Shloka 12
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
पञ्चात्मके पञ्चरतौ पज्चविज्ञानचेतने । शरीरे प्राणिनां जीवं वेत्तुमिच्छामि यादृशम्
bharadvāja uvāca | pañcātmake pañcaratau pañcavijñānacetane | śarīre prāṇināṃ jīvaṃ vettum icchāmi yādṛśam |
“Tubuh makhluk hidup ini tersusun dari lima unsur; ia bergairah pada lima objek indra; ia dilengkapi lima daya pengetahuan serta manas (pikiran). Aku ingin mengetahui seperti apakah hakikat jīva yang bersemayam dalam tubuh demikian.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classical inquiry: although the body is a five-element compound and the psyche engages the five sense-objects through the cognitive faculties and mind, there is an indwelling principle called jīva. Bharadvāja asks for a discriminative account of the jīva’s nature—setting up a teaching that distinguishes the self from bodily and sensory processes, a key step toward ethical restraint and liberation.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Bharadvāja addresses a teacher (contextually within the ongoing discourse on dharma and mokṣa) and poses a focused question: given the body’s elemental composition and its sensory-cognitive apparatus, what exactly is the resident jīva? This question initiates or advances a doctrinal explanation about the self and its relation to body, senses, and mind.