Shloka 18
तेन तज्जलमादत्तं जरयत्यग्निमारुतौ । आहारपरिणामाच्च स्नेहो वृद्धिश्व जायते,वृक्ष अपनी जड़से जो जल खींचता है, उसे उसके अंदर रहनेवाली वायु और अग्नि पचाती है। आहारका परिपाक होनेसे वृक्षमें स्निग्धता आती है और वे बढ़ते हैं
tena taj jalam ādattaṃ jarayaty agnimārutau | āhārapariṇāmāc ca sneho vṛddhiś ca jāyate ||
Bharadvāja explains that the water a tree draws up is ‘digested’ within it by the inner agencies of fire and wind. From the proper transformation of its intake, unctuous nourishment arises, and from that nourishment the tree’s growth is produced.
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Right assimilation is the basis of strength and growth: what is taken in (āhāra) must be properly transformed (pariṇāma) by inner forces (agni and vāyu). When digestion/processing is correct, it becomes nourishing ‘sneha’ and results in increase (vṛddhi).
In a didactic exchange in Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja uses a botanical-physiological analogy: a tree draws water through its roots, and internal ‘fire and wind’ process it; from that processed nourishment the tree becomes supple and grows.