Shloka 12
Jvarotpatti — The Origin and Distribution of Jvara
Fever
चक्षुषी नासिकाकर्णो त्वक् जिद्वेति च पठचमी । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थानां ज्ञानानि कवयो विदु:
cakṣuṣī nāsikākarṇau tvak jihveti ca pañcamī | indriyāṇīndriyārthānāṃ jñānāni kavayo viduḥ ||
অসিতে ক’লে—পণ্ডিতসকলে কয় যে দুটা চকু, নাসিকা, দুটা কাণ, ত্বক আৰু পঞ্চম জিহ্বা—এই পাঁচ জ্ঞানেন্দ্ৰিয়েই নিজৰ নিজৰ বিষয় গ্ৰহণ কৰায়। সেয়ে জ্ঞানীসকলে বুজে যে ইন্দ্ৰিয়-অনুভৱেই জগত-জ্ঞানৰ দুৱাৰ; সুতৰাং ইয়াক যথাৰ্থভাৱে বুজি সংযম কৰা উচিত।
असित उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the five organs of knowledge (eyes, nose, ears, skin, tongue) as the instruments by which sense-objects are apprehended, implying that ethical life requires understanding and regulating sense-perception rather than being driven by it.
In Asita’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he is explaining a classificatory teaching about the human faculties—specifically how knowledge of the external world arises through the senses—within a broader instruction on right understanding and self-mastery.