Shloka 15
Bhīṣma Parva, Adhyāya 4 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Vyāsa Saṃvāda on Kāla and Jayalakṣaṇa
Signs of Victory
तेषां विंशतिरेकोना महाभूतेषु पठचसु । चतुर्विशतिरुद्दिष्टा गायत्री लोकसम्मता
teṣāṁ viṁśatir ekonā mahābhūteṣu pañcasu | caturviṁśatir uddiṣṭā gāyatrī lokasammatā ||
Sañjaya said: Of those beings, they are said to be nineteen; when the five great elements are included among them, the total is declared to be twenty-four. Because the Gāyatrī—accepted by the world as authoritative—also consists of twenty-four syllables, these twenty-four constituents are likewise spoken of as a “Gāyatrī” in common understanding.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links a cosmological enumeration (nineteen living categories plus the five great elements) to the sacred Vedic standard of the 24-syllabled Gāyatrī, suggesting that the world’s structure can be contemplated through a revered metrical/sacral framework.
Sañjaya continues an explanatory passage by giving a numerical account of beings and elements, then justifies calling the set ‘Gāyatrī’ because its total (24) matches the well-known syllable-count of the Gāyatrī metre/mantra.