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 ||
বায়ুদেব বললেন—পঞ্চ মহাভূতের মধ্যে আকাশ একগুণবিশিষ্ট বলা হয়। বায়ু দ্বিগুণযুক্ত। তেজ ত্রিগুণসম্পন্ন বলা হয়েছে, আর জলও চতুর্গুণবিশিষ্ট বলে কথিত।
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.