Shloka 13
Brahmā’s Enumeration of Primacies (Ādi) and the Supremacy of Knowledge
Jñāna
पर्वतानां महामेरु: सर्वेषामग्रज: स्मृत: । दिशां च प्रदिशां चोर्ध्व॑ दिक्पूर्वा प्रथणा तथा
parvatānāṃ mahāmeruḥ sarveṣām agrajaḥ smṛtaḥ | diśāṃ ca pradiśāṃ cordhvaṃ dik pūrvā prathanā tathā ||
Vāyu-deva nói: “Trong mọi núi non, Mahāmeru được nhớ là kẻ sinh trước và đứng đầu. Cũng vậy, trong các phương và các phương phụ, phương Đông được xem là chính yếu—tôn quý và nguyên thủy.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts an ordered hierarchy in the cosmos as preserved by tradition: just as Mahāmeru is held to be the foremost among mountains, the eastern direction is treated as the primary among directions. It frames ‘primacy’ as a recognized, inherited standard (smṛti) rather than a personal preference.
Vāyudeva is speaking and is describing cosmological precedence—identifying Mahāmeru as the first/foremost mountain and the East as the chief direction—likely to ground a discussion of orientation, auspiciousness, or ritual/normative order within the Ashvamedhika Parva context.