Shloka 18
Jvarotpatti — The Origin and Distribution of Jvara
Fever
चित्तमिन्द्रियसंघातं मनो बुद्धिस्तथाष्टमी । अष्टौ ज्ञानेन्द्रियाण्याहुरेतान्यध्यात्मचिन्तका:
cittam indriyasaṅghātaṁ mano buddhis tathāṣṭamī | aṣṭau jñānendriyāṇy āhur etāny adhyātmacintakāḥ ||
Dijo Asita: Quienes contemplan la verdad del Sí mismo declaran que éstos son los «órganos del conocer»: el citta (sustancia mental), el conjunto de los sentidos, el manas (mente) y, como octavo, el buddhi (intelecto). En esta enseñanza, las facultades internas se cuentan junto con los sentidos, subrayando que la claridad ética y la liberación dependen de dominar los instrumentos del conocimiento.
असित उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that true knowledge involves not only the external senses but also the inner instruments—citta, manas, and buddhi. Spiritual contemplatives classify these together as ‘organs of knowing,’ implying that liberation and ethical steadiness require disciplining and clarifying the inner faculties that interpret and judge experience.
In the Moksha-oriented discourse of the Śānti Parva, the sage Asita is explaining an adhyātma framework: he enumerates the cognitive instruments recognized by contemplatives. The discussion is doctrinal rather than event-driven, aiming to guide the listener toward self-understanding and inner restraint.