Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 17
द्रष्टव्यं नैतदेवं हि कथं जायेदजो हि सः । स्मृतमाकाशमण्डं तु तस्माज्जात: पितामह:
draṣṭavyaṃ naitadevaṃ hi kathaṃ jāyed ajo hi saḥ | smṛtam ākāśamaṇḍaṃ tu tasmāj jātaḥ pitāmahaḥ ||
Wika ni Arjuna: “Hindi ito dapat unawain nang gayong literal. Paano magkakaroon ng kapanganakan ang di-isinisilang? Ang tawag na ‘isinilang sa itlog’ ay pawang talinghaga lamang dito: ang malawak na kalawakan ang tinutukoy na ‘itlog,’ at mula roon nahayag ang Pitāmaha (Brahmā). Kaya ‘isinilang sa itlog’ siya sa gayong diwa lamang.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches careful interpretation of traditional epithets: an “unborn” principle cannot literally be said to be born; terms like ‘egg-born’ are to be understood figuratively, pointing to manifestation from the cosmic expanse (ākāśa) rather than biological birth.
Arjuna clarifies a cosmological description about Pitāmaha (Brahmā), rejecting a literal reading and explaining that the ‘egg’ (aṇḍa) is intended as the vast space itself, from which Brahmā is said to appear.