Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 70
Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa
Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results
सा समुत्सृज्य तं दुःखाद् दीप्तवैश्वानरप्रभम् । दर्शयामास चाग्निस्तं तदा गंगां भूगूद्धह
sā samutsṛjya taṃ duḥkhād dīptavaiśvānara-prabham | darśayāmāsa cāgnis taṃ tadā gaṅgāṃ bhṛgūdvaha bhṛguśreṣṭha |
毗湿摩说道：她为悲苦所迫，弃下那胎胚，其光辉如炽燃的毗湿婆那罗之火。随后，阿耆尼现于恒河之前，问她——噢婆利古族中最卓越者——“女神，你的孕期可已安稳吉祥地终了？那孩子的光彩如何——呈现何等形相，具足何种火焰之威能？一切都告诉我。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how extraordinary spiritual or divine energy (tejas) is treated as a moral and cosmic responsibility: even amid grief, the narrative frames the child’s radiance and destiny as matters of dharma, requiring truthful disclosure and careful handling by divine agents like Agni and sacred figures like Gaṅgā.
Gaṅgā, distressed, casts away a fetus/embryo that shines like fire. Agni then appears to her and inquires whether the pregnancy has concluded safely and asks about the child’s appearance, splendor, and fiery power.