Shloka 7

Devanagari script

ज्योतिषो5पि विकुर्वाणाद्‌ भवन्त्यापो रसात्मिका: । अदृभ्यो गन्धवहा भूमि: सर्वेषां सृष्टिरुच्यते,फिर अग्नि-तत्त्वमें विकार आनेपर रसमय जल-तत्त्वकी उत्पत्ति होती है। जलसे गन्धका वहन करनेवाली पृथ्वीका प्रादुर्भाव होता है। इस प्रकार पञ्चमहाभूतोंकी सृष्टि बतायी जाती है

Transliteration

jyotiṣo 'pi vikurvāṇād bhavanty āpo rasātmikāḥ | adṛbhyo gandha-vahā bhūmiḥ sarveṣāṃ sṛṣṭir ucyate ||

Translation

Dijo Vyāsa: Cuando el principio luminoso (fuego/tejas) se transforma, surgen las aguas, cuya naturaleza es el sabor (rasa). De las aguas nace la tierra como portadora del aroma (gandha). Así se describe el origen de todo (los elementos) en el relato de la creación.

Word by Word

ज्योतिषःfrom fire (the fire-element)

अपिalso/even

विकुर्वाणात्from (it) undergoing modification/transforming

भवन्तिarise/come into being

आपःwaters (water-element)

रसात्मिकाःhaving taste as their essence

अद्भ्यःfrom the waters

गन्धवहाcarrying odor

भूमिःearth (earth-element)

सर्वेषाम्of all (of them)

सृष्टिःcreation/origination

उच्यतेis said/is stated

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

jyotis/tejas (fire principle)

āpaḥ (water)

bhūmi (earth)

rasa (taste)

gandha (smell)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a sequential cosmology of the gross elements: from the transformation of tejas (fire/light) arises water characterized by taste, and from water arises earth characterized by smell—illustrating how each element is associated with a distinctive sensory quality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Vyāsa explains the doctrine of creation by describing how the elements emerge in order through transformation, linking each new element to its defining property (taste for water, smell for earth).