Shloka 37
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
तथा खरो मृदू रूक्षो लघुर्गुरुतरोडपि च | एवं द्वादशधा स्पर्शों वायव्यो गुण उच्यते
tathā kharo mṛdu rūkṣo laghur gurutaro 'pi ca | evaṃ dvādaśadhā sparśo vāyavyo guṇa ucyate ||
इसी प्रकार खरा और मृदु, रूक्ष, हलका, भारी और अधिक भारी—और साथ ही उष्ण-शीत, सुख-दुःख, स्निग्ध-विशद—इन सबको मिलाकर स्पर्श वायु-तत्त्व के सम्बन्ध में बारह प्रकार का कहा गया है। इस प्रकार वायु से जुड़े स्पर्श-गुणों के बारह भेद घोषित किए गए हैं।
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse classifies tactile experience (sparśa) as a set of distinct qualities and states that, in this teaching context, these are specifically attributed to the air principle (vāyavya guṇa). It presents a systematic, analytical way of understanding sensation by enumerating its modes.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja is explaining a philosophical taxonomy of qualities. Here he continues an enumeration, stating that touch connected with Vāyu is described as twelvefold, listing representative tactile opposites such as rough/soft, light/heavy, and related experiential pairs.