Shloka 43
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
अव्याहतैश्लेतयते न वेत्ति विषमस्थितै: । आप्याय्यन्ते च ते नित्यं धातवस्तैस्तु धातुभि:,जब वायुसम्बन्धी गुण बाधित न होकर शब्दके साथ रहता है, तब मनुष्य शब्दको सुनता और समझता है; किंतु जब वायुसम्बन्धी गुण दीवार अथवा प्रतिकूल वायुसे बाधित होकर विषम अवस्थामें स्थित हो जाते हैं, तब शब्दका ग्रहण नहीं होता है। वे शब्द आदिके उत्पादक धातु (इन्द्रियगोलक) धातुओं (इन पाँचों भूतों) द्वारा ही पोषित होते हैं
avyāhataiḥ śrūyate na vetti viṣamasthitaiḥ | āpyāyyante ca te nityaṃ dhātavas tais tu dhātubhiḥ ||
Bharadvāja said: When the (auditory) function connected with wind is unobstructed and remains properly associated with sound, a person hears and understands the sound. But when that wind-related function is impeded—by a wall or by an adverse current of air—and thus falls into an irregular condition, sound is not apprehended. Moreover, the bodily constituents that serve as the producers/supports of sound and the senses are continually nourished by those very elemental constituents (the bhūtas).
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sense-perception depends on proper, unobstructed functioning of the elemental factors involved (here, the vāyu-related function enabling hearing). When conditions disturb that function, cognition fails; embodied experience is contingent and conditioned by the bhūtas and dhātus.
In a didactic exchange in Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja explains the mechanics of hearing: sound is grasped when the wind-related sensory function is unobstructed, but not when blocked by barriers or contrary air; he adds that bodily/sensory constituents are sustained by the elemental constituents.