Shloka 120
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
षट् षष्टि्हि सहस्राणि ऋषीणां भावितात्मनाम् | सूर्यस्य तपतो लोकान् निर्मिता ये पुर: सरा:
ṣaṭ-ṣaṣṭir hi sahasrāṇi ṛṣīṇāṁ bhāvitātmanām | sūryasya tapato lokān nirmitā ye puraḥsarāḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“六万六千位仙人——自制而圆满其身者——被创造为先导；当太阳以苦行之炽焰燃烧，塑成诸世界之时，他们走在前方。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that enduring order—whether cosmic or social—arises from tapas (austerity/ardent discipline) and from leaders whose inner life is refined (bhāvitātman). The sages are portrayed as ‘forerunners’ who make creation and governance possible by embodying restraint, insight, and dharma.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he describes a cosmogonic or primordial scene: as the Sun performs tapas and the worlds are fashioned, a vast host of perfected sages (66,000) are said to have been created/appointed as pioneers who go before—establishing the path and stabilizing the newly formed realms.