Shloka 4
भूमिगुण-प्रश्नः
Inquiry into the qualities of Earth and the classification of beings
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत जम्बूखण्डविनिर्माणपर्वमें भूमिगुणवर्णनविषयक चौथा अध्याय पूरा हुआ
bhūmir āpas tathā vāyur agnir ākāśam eva ca | guṇottarāṇi sarvāṇi teṣāṃ bhūmiḥ pradhānataḥ ||
Sañjaya dijo: «Tierra, agua, viento, fuego y espacio: estos son los cinco grandes elementos. En cada elemento sucesivo, comenzando por el espacio y avanzando hacia la tierra, aparece una cualidad adicional respecto del anterior; y entre todos, la tierra es tenida por la principal».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the classical doctrine of the five great elements and their gradation by qualities: as one moves from space toward earth, each subsequent element possesses one additional perceptible quality, culminating in earth as the most ‘complete’ and thus treated as foremost in this scheme.
Sañjaya is delivering a descriptive, encyclopedic account within Bhīṣma Parva, shifting briefly from battlefield reporting to a cosmological explanation that classifies the fundamental elements and their relative attributes.