Shloka 30
Book 10, Adhyāya 12: Aśvatthāmā’s Request for the Cakra and the Brahmaśiras Context
“ब्रह्म! जो मनुष्य समाजमें सदा ही परम प्रामाणिक समझे जाते हैं
brahmacaryaṁ mahad ghore tīrtvā dvādaśavārṣikam | himavatpārśvam āsthāya yo mayā tapasārjitaḥ ||
“婆罗门啊！那位在人间恒被奉为至高权威之准绳者——执甘狄婆弓、驾白马、旗帜上绘有群猴之最尊者者；那位在受束缚的比斗（bound combat）中竟敢直面商羯罗——青颈的湿婆、乌玛之夫——并终使其欢悦者；那位于我而言在此大地上无有更亲者，为他我无物不可舍，乃至妻子与儿子亦然；即便我那挚友、昆蒂之子阿周那，轻而易举成就大业者，也从未说过你今日对我所说之语。又有一事：我曾以十二年之久，履行宏大而严酷的梵行（brahmacarya），并居于喜马拉雅之侧；那位我以苦行（tapas）所得之人——所言正是此人。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that extraordinary attainments are ‘earned’ through sustained self-restraint (brahmacarya) and austerity (tapas). Ethical authority and power are portrayed as arising from disciplined practice rather than impulsive desire or brute strength.
The speaker refers to someone obtained through the narrator’s austerities after a severe twelve-year brahmacarya undertaken near the Himālaya. It functions as a credentialing detail—establishing the spiritual legitimacy and potency behind the person/aid being invoked in the surrounding episode.