Shloka 38
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
तत्रैकगुणमाकाशं द्विगुणो वायुरुच्यते । त्रिगुणं ज्योतिरित्याहुरापश्चापि चतुर्गुणा:
tatraikaguṇam ākāśaṃ dviguṇo vāyur ucyate | triguṇaṃ jyotir ity āhur āpaś cāpi caturguṇāḥ ||
قال فايُو-ديفا: «من بين العناصر العظمى الخمسة، يُقال إن الأثير/الفضاء لا يملك إلا صفةً واحدة. والريح تُوصَف باثنتين. والنار تُعلَن موهوبةً ثلاث صفات، والماء كذلك يُقال إن له أربعًا.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a hierarchy of the elements by the number of perceptible qualities (guṇas) they manifest: space has one, wind two, fire three, and water four—indicating increasing complexity as creation becomes more tangible.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal explanation of the constituents of the world (the mahābhūtas), using the traditional scheme of counting their qualities to clarify how subtle reality differentiates into grosser forms.