Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 446

Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga

Adhyātma-Upadeśa

Devanagari script

एवं षड्विधविस्तारो रसो वारिमय: स्मृत: । मीठा, खट्टा, कड्आ, तीता, कसैला और नमकीन--इस प्रकार छ: भेदोंमें जलमय रसका विस्तार बताया गया है

Transliteration

evaṁ ṣaḍvidha-vistāro raso vāri-mayaḥ smṛtaḥ |

Translation

Vāyudeva said: “Thus the ‘taste’ that is water-based is understood to expand in six distinct forms: sweet, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent, and salty.” In context, the teaching frames sensory experience—especially taste—as a structured, knowable domain, encouraging disciplined understanding of the body and its perceptions rather than indulgent confusion.

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• षड्विध-विस्तारः: sixfold expansion
• षड्विध-विस्तारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: षड्विध-विस्तार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• रसः: taste; essence
• रसः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वारिमयः: consisting of water; watery
• वारिमयः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वारिमय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्मृतः: is said/considered; is remembered as
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That taste (rasa), understood as a water-based sensory quality, is systematically classified into six kinds; this supports mindful regulation of sense-experience through clear knowledge rather than impulse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is delivering an instructive explanation, defining and classifying ‘rasa’ as part of a broader discourse on bodily constituents and sensory functions.