Shloka 5
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
इत्येतै: पञ्चभि र्भूतैर्युक्ते स्थावरजजड्भमम् । श्रोत्रं ग्राणं रस: स्पर्शो दृशटिश्रेन्द्रियसंज्ञिता:
ity etaiḥ pañcabhir bhūtair yukte sthāvarajaṅgamaṁ jagat | śrotraṁ ghrāṇaṁ rasaḥ sparśo dṛṣṭiś cendriya-saṁjñitāḥ ||
Bharadvāja dit : « Ainsi, le monde entier — l’immobile comme le mobile — est constitué de ces cinq grands éléments. De leurs parts subtiles naissent ce qu’on appelle les cinq facultés sensorielles : l’ouïe (oreille), l’odorat (nez), le goût (langue), le toucher (peau) et la vue (œil). »
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
All embodied experience is grounded in the five great elements, and the sense-faculties arise from the subtle aspects of those elements; understanding this supports discernment between the material constituents and the knowing self.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja explains a cosmological-psychological framework: the world (moving and unmoving) is made of five elements, and the five senses are derived from their subtle portions.