Shloka 11
Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)
तत्त्वज्ञानमें कुशल पुरुषोंका कथन है कि त्वचा अध्यात्म है, स्पर्श अधिभूत है और वायु अधिदैवत है ।। मनो<ध्यात्ममिति प्राहुर्यथा शास्त्रविशारदा: | मन्तव्यमधिभूतं तु चन्द्रमा श्चाधिदेवतम्
tattvajñāne kuśalāḥ puruṣāḥ prāhuḥ—tvacā adhyātmam, sparśaḥ adhibhūtam, vāyuḥ adhidaivatam || mano 'dhyātmam iti prāhur yathā śāstraviśāradāḥ | mantavyam adhibhūtaṃ tu candramāś cādhidaivatam ||
তত্ত্বজ্ঞানে দক্ষেরা বলেন—ত্বক অধ্যাত্ম, স্পর্শ অধিভূত, আর বায়ু অধিদৈবত। তেমনি শাস্ত্রবিশারদেরা বলেন—মন অধ্যাত্ম; চিন্ত্য বিষয় (মন্তব্য) অধিভূত; এবং চন্দ্র অধিদৈবত।
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps human experience through a threefold lens: (1) adhyātma—the inner faculty or locus in the person (skin, mind), (2) adhibhūta—the corresponding object or sensory domain (touch, the thinkable object), and (3) adhidaivata—the presiding cosmic/divine principle (wind for touch/skin; the Moon for mind). This framework trains discernment by linking body-mind functions to their objects and to a governing cosmic order.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Yājñavalkya is expounding a doctrinal classification used in self-knowledge teachings. He is not describing an external event but delivering a systematic explanation of how faculties (senses and mind) relate to their objects and to presiding deities, as part of a broader discourse on understanding the self and reality.