Shloka 14
Tapas as the Root of Attainment (तपः—साधनमूलप्रशंसा)
“तात! क्या पवनदेव तुमसे किसी कारणवश विशेष प्रसन्न रहते हैं अथवा वे तुम्हारे सुहृद हैं, जिससे इस वनमें सदा तुम्हारी निश्चितरूपसे रक्षा करते हैं ।।
tāta! kiṃ vāyudevaḥ tvayā kenacid kāraṇena viśeṣataḥ prasannaḥ, athavā sa te suhṛt, yena’smin vane sadā tvāṃ niścitarūpeṇa rakṣati? bhagavān pavanaḥ sthānād vṛkṣān uccāvacān api, parvatānāṃ ca śikharāṇy ācalayati vegavān.
毗湿摩说道：“孩子啊，风神因何对你格外欢喜，或是他为你怀善意——以致在这林中恒常而确然地护你？须知那蒙福的风，迅疾而有大力，能使大小诸树离其所立，甚至令群山之巅亦为之战栗。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights divine protection and the ethical attitude of humility: when extraordinary safety or success appears in a perilous setting, it may be due to unseen grace or a powerful well-wisher. It also frames natural forces as expressions of divine potency, encouraging reverence rather than arrogance.
Bhishma addresses a younger person and wonders why the Wind-god seems especially favorable—protecting him constantly in the forest. To underscore the point, Bhishma describes Vayu’s immense power: he can uproot or shake trees of all sizes and even make mountain summits tremble.