Shloka 10
Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)
त्वगध्यात्ममिति प्राहुस्तत्त्वबुद्धिविशारदा: । स्पर्शमेवाधि भूतं तु पवनश्चाधिदेवतम्
tvag adhyātmam iti prāhus tattvabuddhiviśāradāḥ | sparśam evādhibhūtaṃ tu pavanaś cādhidaivatam ||
Yājñavalkya sprach: „Die im Erkennen der Wirklichkeit Kundigen erklären: Die Haut gehört zum adhyātma, zum inneren Selbstbereich. Allein die Berührung ist ihr adhibhūta — das entsprechende Element im Feld der Wesen —, und der Wind ist ihr adhidaivata, die präsidierende Gottheit.“
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps a sense faculty into a threefold framework: (1) adhyātma—its inner, individual basis (skin as the organ), (2) adhibhūta—its objective correlate (touch as the sensory field), and (3) adhidaivata—its presiding cosmic principle (Wind). This teaches that human experience is integrated with both the material world and a larger cosmic order, supporting disciplined self-knowledge.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Yājñavalkya is explaining a doctrinal classification of the senses and their correspondences. He identifies how the tactile faculty is understood by ‘knowers of truth’ within a systematic teaching on the relation between the individual (adhyātma), the world (adhibhūta), and the divine governance (adhidaivata).