Shloka 5
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
पश्यती भवते दृष्ठी रसती रसन॑ भवेत् | जिप्रती भवति प्राणं बुद्धिर्विक्रियते पृथक्
paśyatī bhavate dṛṣṭiḥ rasatī rasanā bhavet | jighratī bhavati prāṇaṃ buddhir vikriyate pṛthak ||
Vyāsa explains that the one inner faculty appears as different sense-powers according to its function: when it apprehends forms it is called sight; when it tastes it becomes the tongue; when it smells it is termed the vital sense (prāṇa). Thus, the intellect itself undergoes distinct modifications and is spoken of as separate faculties, though in essence it is one.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that what we call separate sense-faculties are functional modifications of a single inner principle—buddhi—so multiplicity is a matter of operation and naming, not ultimate separateness.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is explaining the inner mechanics of perception: the same inner faculty is designated as sight, taste, or (in relation to smell) prāṇa, depending on the activity it performs.