Shloka 42

Devanagari script

एवं बहुविधाकार: शब्द आकाशसम्भव: । आकाशगजं शब्दमाहुरेभिवायुगुणैः सह,इस प्रकार आकाशजनित शब्दके अनेक भेद हैं। वायुसम्बन्धी गुणोंके साथ ही आकाशजनित शब्द होता है; ऐसा विद्वान पुरुष कहते हैं

Transliteration

evaṁ bahuvidhākāraḥ śabda ākāśasambhavaḥ | ākāśaguṇaṁ śabdam āhur ebhir vāyuguṇaiḥ saha ||

Translation

Bharadvāja said: “Sound, which arises from space (ākāśa), assumes many different forms. The learned declare that sound is the distinctive quality of space, and that it is apprehended in conjunction with the qualities associated with air (vāyu).”

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

बहु-विध-आकाराःforms of many kinds

शब्दाःsounds

आकाश-सम्भवाःarising from space (ākāśa-born)

आकाश-गतम्situated in space

शब्दम्sound

आहुःthey say, they declare

एभिःby these (people/means)

वायु-गुणैःwith the qualities of air

सहtogether with

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja (भरद्वाज)

Ākāśa (आकाश)

Śabda (शब्द)

Vāyu (वायु)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a classical element-and-quality doctrine: sound (śabda) is said to originate from ākāśa and is regarded as ākāśa’s defining quality, while its manifestation and apprehension are discussed alongside the qualities associated with vāyu.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja is explaining a philosophical account of how sensory qualities relate to the elements—here focusing on sound, its origin in space (ākāśa), and its relation to air (vāyu).