Shloka 12
Jvarotpatti — The Origin and Distribution of Jvara
Fever
चक्षुषी नासिकाकर्णो त्वक् जिद्वेति च पठचमी । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थानां ज्ञानानि कवयो विदु:
cakṣuṣī nāsikākarṇau tvak jihveti ca pañcamī | indriyāṇīndriyārthānāṃ jñānāni kavayo viduḥ ||
असित ने कहा—विद्वान् कहते हैं कि दो नेत्र, नासिका, दो कर्ण, त्वचा और पाँचवीं जिह्वा—ये पाँच ज्ञानेन्द्रियाँ अपने-अपने विषयों को ग्रहण कराने वाली हैं। इसी से बुद्धिमान जन जानते हैं कि इन्द्रिय-ज्ञान ही जगत्-परिचय का द्वार है, अतः इसे समझकर वश में रखना चाहिए।
असित उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the five organs of knowledge (eyes, nose, ears, skin, tongue) as the instruments by which sense-objects are apprehended, implying that ethical life requires understanding and regulating sense-perception rather than being driven by it.
In Asita’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he is explaining a classificatory teaching about the human faculties—specifically how knowledge of the external world arises through the senses—within a broader instruction on right understanding and self-mastery.