Shloka 5
Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation
गन्धो रसश्षु रूपं च शब्द: स्पर्शक्ष पठचम: । मन्तव्यमथ बोद्धव्यं सप्तैते कर्महेतव:,गन्ध, रस, रूप, शब्द, पाँचवाँ स्पर्श तथा मन्तव्य और बोद्धव्य--ये सात विषय कर्मरूप हेतु हैं
gandho rasaś ca rūpaṃ ca śabdaḥ sparśaś ca pañcamaḥ | mantavyam atha boddhavyaṃ saptaite karmahetavaḥ ||
The Brahmin said: “Smell, taste, form, sound, and touch as the fifth—along with what is to be reflected upon and what is to be understood—these seven are the causes that set action in motion.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions (karma) arise from engagement with sense-objects (smell, taste, form, sound, touch) and from inner cognition—what one entertains in thought (mantavyam) and what one comes to know/understand (boddhavyam). Ethical living therefore requires vigilance over both the senses and the mind’s deliberation and understanding.
A Brahmin speaker is instructing the listener by enumerating the principal drivers of human action. The verse functions as a didactic listing within a broader moral-philosophical discourse in the Ashvamedhika Parva.