Shloka 13
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थाश्व॒ स््वभावश्वलेतना मन: । प्राणापानौ च जीवश्व नित्यं देहेषु देहिनाम्
indriyāṇīndriyārthāś ca svabhāvaś cetanā manaḥ | prāṇāpānau ca jīvaś ca nityaṃ deheṣu dehinām ||
Vyāsa said: The sense-organs, the objects of the senses (such as form and taste), one’s innate constitution (seen as qualities like heat and cold), consciousness, the mind, the vital breaths of inhalation and exhalation, and the individual living principle—these are always present within the bodies of embodied beings. In this teaching, the body is shown as a constant field where faculties and forces operate; ethical clarity arises from discerning these constituents rather than mistaking them for the true Self.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse enumerates the constant constituents of embodied existence—senses, sense-objects, innate constitution, consciousness, mind, vital breaths, and the individual life-principle—encouraging discernment between the operating factors within the body and the deeper Self that should not be confused with them.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vyāsa is explaining to the listener the elements that are invariably present in living bodies, setting up a framework for understanding how experience and action arise through the senses, mind, and vital forces.