Shloka 11

जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः

Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry

Devanagari script

रूप॑ चक्षुविपाकश्च त्रिविधं ज्योतिरुच्यते । घ्रेयं प्राणं शरीरं च एते भूमिगुणा: स्मृता:

Transliteration

rūpaṃ cakṣurvipākaś ca trividhaṃ jyotir ucyate | ghreyaṃ prāṇaṃ śarīraṃ ca ete bhūmiguṇāḥ smṛtāḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma explique que le principe du feu/de la lumière (tejas) se comprend par trois fonctions : la forme visible (rūpa), l’œil (cakṣus) et la digestion ou transformation métabolique (vipāka). De même, le principe de la terre (bhūmi) se reconnaît par trois traits : l’odeur (ghrāṇya), le souffle vital (prāṇa) et l’armature du corps (śarīra).

Word by Word

• रूपम्: form/colour (visible form)
• रूपम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• चक्षुः: eye/vision
• चक्षुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चक्षुस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• विपाकः: ripening/maturation; digestion (resultant transformation)
• विपाकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विपाक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• त्रिविधम्: threefold
• त्रिविधम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रिविध
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• ज्योतिः: light/tejas
• ज्योतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्योतिस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• उच्यते: is said/is called
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Present, Passive, Third, Singular

• घ्रेयम्: that which is to be smelt; smell-object
• घ्रेयम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घ्रेय
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• प्राणम्: breath/vital air
• प्राणम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शरीरम्: body
• शरीरम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीर
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एते: these
• एते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• भूमि-गुणाः: qualities of earth
• भूमि-गुणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमिगुण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• स्मृताः: are considered/are remembered as
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ
• Form: Past (PPP), Passive (participial), Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma classifies how elemental principles are inferred in the human system: tejas is known through form, sight, and digestion; earth is known through smell, vital breath, and the bodily structure. This supports ethical self-mastery by analyzing experience into elemental functions rather than identifying the Self with them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma continues a philosophical exposition to Yudhiṣṭhira, explaining the constituents and qualities of embodied life through elemental categories and their observable functions.