Shloka 20
Śukasya Janma-yoga-phalaṁ — Vyāsasya Tapasā Putrārthaḥ (Śānti-parva 310)
शब्द: स्पर्शक्ष रूपं च रसो गन्धस्तथैव च । पज्चमं सर्गमित्याहुभौतिकं भूतचिन्तका:,शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध--ये पाँच विषय पञ्चमहाभूतोंसे उत्पन्न हुए हैं। यह पाँचवीं सृष्टि है। भूतचिन्तक विद्वान् इसे भौतिक सर्ग कहते हैं
śabdaḥ sparśaś ca rūpaṃ ca raso gandhas tathaiva ca | pañcamaṃ sargam ity āhur bhautikaṃ bhūtacintakāḥ ||
Yājñavalkya said: “Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell—these five sense-objects arise from the great elements. This is declared to be the fifth creation; thinkers who contemplate the elements call it the ‘material’ (bhautika) emanation.”
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse classifies the five sense-objects—sound, touch, form, taste, and smell—as products of the elemental (bhūta) order, identifying this as a distinct stage of creation called the material (bhautika) emanation.
In a didactic discourse within Śānti Parva, Yājñavalkya explains a cosmological sequence: how the world of sensory experience arises from the great elements, using the language of ‘sargas’ (stages of creation) as taught by element-contemplating sages.