Shloka 47
Brahma-vidyā: Satya–Tapas and the Enumeration of Tattvas
Arjuna–Vāsudeva framed dialogue
महानात्मा तथाव्यक्तमहंकारस्तथैव च । इन्द्रियाणि दशैक॑ च महाभूतानि पठच च,अव्यक्त प्रकृति, महत्तत्त्व, अहंकार, दस इन्द्रियाँ,एक मन, पञच महाभूत और उनके शब्द आदि विशेष गुण--यह चौबीस तत्त्वोंका सनातन सर्ग है। तथा एक जीवात्मा-इस प्रकार तत्त्वोंकी संख्या पचीस बतलायी गयी है
mahānātmā tathāvyaktam ahaṅkāras tathaiva ca | indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca mahābhūtāni pañca ca | avyaktā prakṛtiḥ, mahattattvam, ahaṅkāraḥ, daśendriyāṇi, ekaṃ manaḥ, pañca mahābhūtāni ca teṣāṃ śabdādiviśeṣaguṇāḥ—eṣa caturviṃśatitattvānāṃ sanātanaḥ sargaḥ | tathā ekaḥ jīvātmā—iti tattvānāṃ saṅkhyā pañcaviṃśatir uktā |
Vāyu said: “There is the Unmanifest, and likewise the Great Principle, and also egoity; the ten senses and the one mind; and the five great elements together with their specific qualities such as sound and the rest. This is the eternal emanation of the twenty‑four principles. And when the individual self (jīva) is added, the principles are said to be twenty‑five in number.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vāyu presents a Sāṅkhya-style enumeration of reality: the 24 material principles (from unmanifest prakṛti through mahat, ahaṅkāra, mind, senses, elements and their qualities) constitute the eternal process of manifestation; adding the conscious individual self yields a total of 25 principles.
In the Ashvamedhika Parva’s instructional discourse, Vāyu speaks as a teacher, shifting the focus from external events to inner knowledge by defining the constituents of the world and the self, guiding the listener toward discernment between nature (prakṛti and its evolutes) and the conscious jīva.