Shloka 16

Puruṣaikatva-vyākhyāna: The One Virāṭ Puruṣa and the Many ‘Puruṣas’

Rudra–Brahmā Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

अद्यप्रभृति ते राजन्नाकाशे विहता गतिः । अस्मच्छापाभिघातेन महीं भिकत्त्वा प्रवेक्ष्यसि

Transliteration

adyaprabhṛti te rājann ākāśe vihatā gatiḥ | asmacchāpābhighātena mahīṃ bhittvā pravekṣyasi ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Từ hôm nay, hỡi Đại vương, năng lực du hành giữa không trung của ngài đã bị hủy diệt. Bị đòn giáng của lời nguyền chúng ta, ngài sẽ xé toạc mặt đất mà rơi vào Pātāla (cõi dưới).”

Word by Word

• {'adyaprabhṛti': 'from today onward, henceforth', 'te': 'your', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'ākāśe': 'in the sky', 'vihatā': 'struck down, destroyed, obstructed', 'gatiḥ': 'movement, course, power of locomotion', 'asmacchāpa': 'our curse', 'abhighāta': 'blow, impact, stroke', 'mahīm': 'the earth', 'bhittvā': 'having split, having pierced', 'pravekṣyasi': 'you will enter'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājā (the addressed king)
• ākāśa (sky)
• mahī (earth)
• pātāla (netherworld, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Knowing the truth yet supporting a biased or self-serving position leads to moral and practical downfall; the loss of “sky-movement” symbolizes the stripping of privilege and freedom through the force of ethical retribution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma pronounces a curse upon a king: from that moment the king’s ability to travel in the sky is nullified, and he is destined to be driven beneath the earth into the netherworld as a direct result of the curse.