Shloka 9
Adhyātma-nirdeśa
Definition of Adhyātma): Mahābhūtas, Indriyas, Guṇas, and the Witness (Kṣetrajña
व्याधिव्रणपरिक्लेशैमेंदिनी चैव शीर्यते । पीडिते<न्यतरे होषां संघातो याति पठचधा,ज्वर आदि रोग, घाव तथा अन््यान्य प्रकारके क्लेशोंसे शरीरका पृथ्वीतत्त्व बिखर जाता है। इन पाँचों तत्त्वोंमेंसे एक तत्त्वको भी यदि हानि पहुँची तो इनका सारा संघात ही पंचत्वको प्राप्त हो जाता है
vyādhi-vraṇa-parikleśair medinī caiva śīryate | pīḍite 'nyatare hoṣāṃ saṃghāto yāti pañcatāṃ ||
Bharadvāja said: “Through diseases, wounds, and other afflictions, the ‘earth’ element in the body is worn away and disintegrates. If even one among these five elements is injured, the entire aggregate of the body collapses and reaches ‘pañcatva’—dissolution back into the five elements.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The body is a fragile composite of the five elements; when even one element is seriously impaired by disease, wounds, or affliction, the whole organism breaks down, reminding one to cultivate detachment and right understanding of mortality.
Bharadvāja is explaining, in an analytical and reflective mode typical of Śānti Parva, how physical suffering disrupts the elemental balance of the body and leads inevitably to death—‘returning to the five’ (pañcatva).