Shloka 18
तेषामपि गुणा: सर्वे गुणवृत्ति: परस्परम् | पूर्वपूर्वगुणा: सर्वे क्रमशो गुणिषु त्रिषु,उन शब्द आदि गुणोंके भी अनेक गुण-भेद हैं, क्योंकि इन गुणोंका परस्पर संक्रमण भी देखा जाता है। पहले-पहलेके सभी गुण क्रमश: बादवाले तीन गुणवान् भूतों (अग्नि, जल और पृथ्वी)-में उपलब्ध होते हैं, अर्थात् अग्निमें शब्द, स्पर्श और रूप; जलमें शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप और रस तथा पृथ्वीमें शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध पाये जाते हैं
teṣām api guṇāḥ sarve guṇavṛttiḥ parasparam | pūrva-pūrva-guṇāḥ sarve kramaśo guṇiṣu triṣu ||
“Even among those sense-qualities, there are many distinctions, for their functions are seen to pass into one another. And all the earlier qualities are found, in due order, within the three later ‘qualified’ elements—fire, water, and earth: in fire are sound, touch, and form; in water are sound, touch, form, and taste; and in earth are sound, touch, form, taste, and smell.”
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse explains a graded cosmology of sensory qualities: later, denser elements contain the qualities of earlier ones. This supports an ethical-philosophical point often made by the Vyādha—understanding the ordered structure of nature helps one see dharma as coherent, interconnected, and not arbitrary.
The Vyādha continues instructing his listener in dharma using philosophical analysis. Here he shifts to explaining how sensory qualities (sound, touch, form, taste, smell) are distributed across the elements—fire, water, and earth—showing their mutual interpenetration and sequential accumulation.