Shloka 4
धर्मलक्षण-प्रश्नः (Marks and Sources of Dharma) | Chapter 251: Inquiry into the Definition of Dharma
चरणं मारुतात्मेति प्राणापानौ च तन््मयौ | स्पर्शन॑ चेन्द्रियं विद्यात् तथा स्पर्श च तन््मयम्
caraṇaṁ mārutātmā iti prāṇāpānau ca tanmayau | sparśanaṁ cendriyaṁ vidyāt tathā sparśaṁ ca tanmayam |
Vyāsa sprach: „Bewegung gilt als die eigene Natur des Windes. Die Lebenshauche—prāṇa und apāna—sind gleichermaßen aus eben diesem Wind gebildet. Ebenso soll man das Tastorgan (die Haut) und die Eigenschaft, die ‘Berührung’ heißt, als von diesem Wind durchdrungen und aus ihm gemacht verstehen.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a unifying view: movement, the vital breaths (prāṇa and apāna), and tactile experience (skin as the organ and touch as the quality) are all manifestations of Vāyu. It frames bodily functions and sensory perception as expressions of a single elemental principle, encouraging insight into the underlying unity behind diverse phenomena.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vyāsa is explaining a philosophical analysis of the body and its functions. He identifies specific activities and faculties—locomotion, respiration, and touch—and assigns them to the domain of Wind (Vāyu), as part of a broader teaching on how elements and principles constitute embodied life.