Shloka 7
Yoga-kṛtya (योककृत्य) — Vyāsa on Sense-Restraint, Obstacles, and Brahman-Realization
ज्योतिषो5पि विकुर्वाणाद् भवन्त्यापो रसात्मिका: । अदृभ्यो गन्धवहा भूमि: सर्वेषां सृष्टिरुच्यते,फिर अग्नि-तत्त्वमें विकार आनेपर रसमय जल-तत्त्वकी उत्पत्ति होती है। जलसे गन्धका वहन करनेवाली पृथ्वीका प्रादुर्भाव होता है। इस प्रकार पञ्चमहाभूतोंकी सृष्टि बतायी जाती है
jyotiṣo 'pi vikurvāṇād bhavanty āpo rasātmikāḥ | adṛbhyo gandha-vahā bhūmiḥ sarveṣāṃ sṛṣṭir ucyate ||
Vyāsa said: When the luminous principle (fire/tejas) undergoes transformation, waters arise, whose nature is taste (rasa). From the waters, earth comes forth as the bearer of scent (gandha). Thus is described the origination of all the elements in the account of creation.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a sequential cosmology of the gross elements: from the transformation of tejas (fire/light) arises water characterized by taste, and from water arises earth characterized by smell—illustrating how each element is associated with a distinctive sensory quality.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Vyāsa explains the doctrine of creation by describing how the elements emerge in order through transformation, linking each new element to its defining property (taste for water, smell for earth).