Shloka 23
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
तेजो हाग्निस्तथा क्रोधश्चक्षुरूष्मा तथैव च । अग्निर्जरयते यश्नल पञज्चाग्नेया: शरीरिण:,श्लेष्मा पित्तमथ स्वेदो वसा शोणितमेव च । इत्याप: पज्चधा देहे भवन्ति प्राणिनां सदा कफ, पित्त, स्वेद, चर्बी और रुधिर--ये प्राणियोंके शरीरमें रहनेवाली पाँच गीली वस्तुएँ जलरूप हैं
bharadvāja uvāca | tejo hy agnis tathā krodhaś cakṣur ūṣmā tathaiva ca | agnir jarayate yasmāt pañcāgneyaḥ śarīriṇaḥ || śleṣmā pittam atha svedo vasā śoṇitam eva ca | ity āpaḥ pañcadhā dehe bhavanti prāṇināṃ sadā ||
Bharadvāja said: “Vital brilliance is fire; so too are anger, the eye, and bodily heat. Because fire brings about digestion and aging, embodied beings are said to possess five ‘fiery’ factors. Likewise, phlegm, bile, sweat, fat, and blood—these are the five ‘watery’ substances that are always present within the bodies of living creatures.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse classifies bodily and psychological functions into elemental groups: five ‘fiery’ factors (including tejas and anger) and five ‘watery’ substances (phlegm, bile, sweat, fat, blood). By seeing anger and heat as elemental forces, one is encouraged to cultivate restraint and discernment rather than identify with these impulses.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Bharadvāja explains a physiological-ethical analysis of the embodied being, describing how fire and water principles manifest in the body. This supports broader counsel on self-mastery and understanding the constituents of embodied life.