Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 53
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
षडजर्षभ: स गान्धारो मध्यम: पञ्चमस्तथा । अतः परं तु विज्ञेयो निषादो धैवतस्तथा । इष्टश्ानिष्टशब्दश्न॒ संहतः प्रविभागवान्
ṣaḍajaṛṣabhaḥ sa gāndhāro madhyamaḥ pañcamas tathā | ataḥ paraṃ tu vijñeyo niṣādo dhaivatas tathā | iṣṭāniṣṭaśabdaś ca saṃhataḥ pravibhāgavān ||
Vāyu-deva said: “The note called Ṣaḍja is the ‘bull’ (chief) among notes; then come Gāndhāra, Madhyama, and Pañcama. Beyond these, one should understand Niṣāda and likewise Dhaivata. Sound, whether pleasing or unpleasing, becomes meaningful when it is held together in proper combination and also distinguished into its parts.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames sound as ethically and aesthetically significant: tones may be pleasing or displeasing, but they gain proper value when arranged in harmonious combination and also understood through clear distinctions—suggesting disciplined knowledge and right ordering as the basis of meaningful expression.
Vāyu-deva is explaining the structure of musical sound by naming key notes (svaras) and indicating how sound functions when integrated (saṃhata) and differentiated (pravibhāgavān), as part of a broader instruction on knowledge and refined understanding.