Shloka 14
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
यद्यजीवं शरीरं तु पजचभूतसमन्वितम् | शारीरे मानसे दुः:खे कस्तां वेदयते रुजम्,यदि इस पांचभौतिक शरीरको जीवरहित मान लिया जाय, तब प्रश्न यह होता है कि शरीर अथवा मनमें पीड़ा होनेपर उसके कष्टका अनुभव कौन करता है?
bharadvāja uvāca |
yady ajīvaṃ śarīraṃ tu pañcabhūtasamanvitam |
śārīre mānase duḥkhe kastāṃ vedayate rujam ||
Bharadvāja said: If this body—composed of the five great elements—is assumed to be without a living self, then when pain arises in the body or sorrow arises in the mind, who is it that actually feels that suffering?
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical challenge: if the body is merely a five-element aggregate and has no living self, then subjective experience (pain, sorrow) cannot be accounted for. It points toward an experiencer distinct from inert matter—raising the need to explain consciousness and the locus of moral agency.
Bharadvāja poses a probing question in a doctrinal discussion typical of the Śānti Parva: he tests the claim that the body is lifeless matter by asking who, then, experiences bodily and mental suffering. The question invites the respondent to clarify the nature of jīva/ātman and its relation to body and mind.