Shloka 56

Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa

Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results

Devanagari script

तया चाप्यभवन्मिश्रो गर्भ चास्यादधे तदा । ववृधे स तदा गर्भ: कक्षे कृष्णगतिर्यथा

Transliteration

tayā cāpy abhavan miśro garbha cāsyādadhē tadā | vavṛdhe sa tadā garbhaḥ kakṣe kṛṣṇagatir yathā ||

Translation

అతడు ఆమెతో ఏకమయ్యెను; ఆ సమయంలో ఆమె అతని భ్రూణాన్ని గర్భంగా ధరించెను. ఆ గర్భము గంగలో అంతరంగమున అగ్ని—ఇంధనపు గుట్టలో దాగి ఉండి ఒక్కసారిగా జ్వలించునట్లు—అలాగే వృద్ధి చెందసాగెను।

Word by Word

• तया: by her (by that woman)
• तया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अपि: also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• अभवत्: became/occurred
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Imperfect, 3, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मिश्रः: mixed, combined
• मिश्रः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मिश्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• गर्भः: embryo, fetus
• गर्भः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गर्भ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अस्य: of him/its
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• आदधे: placed, bore, conceived
• Type: Verb
• Root: धा (आ-धा)
• Form: Perfect, 3, Singular, Atmanepada

• तदा: then, at that time
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• ववृधे: grew, increased
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृध्
• Form: Perfect, 3, Singular, Atmanepada

• सः: he/that (embryo)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• गर्भः: the embryo
• गर्भः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गर्भ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कक्षे: in the armpit/side (lap/region)
• कक्षे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• कृष्णगतिः: black-moving fire/black course (i.e., fire hidden in dark fuel)
• कृष्णगतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्णगति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• यथा: as, just like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• a woman (tayā; contextually Gaṅgā in the surrounding narrative)
• embryo/fetus (garbha)
• fire (implied by the simile: kṛṣṇagatiḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Once potent energy—especially divinely sourced tejas—has been received and rightly contained, it naturally matures in due course; the simile of hidden fire suggests that power may be unseen at first yet inevitably manifests when conditions support it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a union leading to conception; the embryo is ‘deposited’ and then grows within the bearer, compared to fire that, though moving darkly/hidden, blazes up when lodged in a hollow or heap of fuel.