Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 18
तिछेत् कथमिति ब्रूहि न किंचिद्धि तदा भवेत् । अहड्कार इति प्रोक्त: सर्वतेजोगत: प्रभु:
tichyet katham iti brūhi na kiñcid dhi tadā bhavet | ahaṅkāra iti proktaḥ sarva-tejo-gataḥ prabhuḥ |
Wika ni Arjuna: “Kung may magtanong, ‘Paano (at sa anong sandigan) nahayag si Brahmā mula sa kalawakan? Sabihin mo; sapagkat sa panahong iyon ay wala nang iba pang magiging saligan,’ ang sagot ay ito: si Brahmā ay inilalarawan doon bilang ‘Ahaṅkāra’ (ang simulain ng ‘ako’), ang makapangyarihang naghahari na lumalaganap sa lahat ng anyo ng liwanag at lakas, ganap na may kakayahan sa sarili.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a cosmological doubt—if Brahmā emerges from space, what supports him when nothing else exists? The answer identifies the ‘support’ not as a physical substrate but as a metaphysical principle: ahaṅkāra, the cosmic ‘I’-sense that pervades all tejas (energies) and functions as an autonomous, competent power in creation.
Arjuna raises (or voices) a philosophical objection about the origin and grounding of Brahmā at the beginning of creation. The response (summarized in the accompanying Hindi gloss) explains that Brahmā is to be understood as ahaṅkāra—an all-pervading, potent principle—thereby resolving the question of ‘where he stands’ when no other basis exists.