Shloka 231
Śukasya Janma-yoga-phalaṁ — Vyāsasya Tapasā Putrārthaḥ (Śānti-parva 310)
श्रोत्रं त्वक् चैव चक्षुश्न जिद्दा प्राणं च पजचमम् । सर्ग तु षष्ठमित्याहुर्बहुचिन्तात्मक॑ स्मृतम्
śrotraṃ tvak caiva cakṣuś ca jihvā prāṇaṃ ca pañcamam | sargaṃ tu ṣaṣṭham ity āhur bahucintātmakam smṛtam ||
याज्ञवल्क्य बोले—श्रवण, स्पर्श, दर्शन, रसना (जिह्वा) और प्राण—ये पाँच कहे गए हैं। और ‘सर्ग’ (सृजन-प्रवृत्ति) को छठा कहा जाता है। यह समष्टि ‘बहुचिन्तात्मक’—अनेक विचारों से चंचल—तत्त्व के रूप में स्मृत है।
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse classifies the human faculties: five primary sense/life functions (hearing, touch, sight, taste, and prāṇa) and adds a sixth called sarga—an inner projecting/creative impulse—highlighting how this complex becomes ‘many-thoughted’ and thus a source of mental restlessness that must be understood for self-mastery.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the sage Yājñavalkya is explaining a philosophical analysis of the embodied being, enumerating faculties to guide the listener toward discernment (viveka) and ethical self-control.