Shloka 10
Adhyāya 40: Brahmā on Mahān (The Great Principle) and the All-Pervading Puruṣa
तेषु भूतानि युज्यन्ते महा भूतेषु पजचसु । ते शब्दस्पर्शरूपेषु रसगन्धक्रियासु च,उन पाँचों महाभूतों तथा उनके कार्य शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस, गन्ध आदिसे सम्पूर्ण प्राणी युक्त हैं
teṣu bhūtāni yujyante mahābhūteṣu pañcasu | te śabdasparśarūpeṣu rasagandhakriyāsu ca ||
Vāyu-deva said: “All living beings are constituted through those five great elements. And they are bound up with the elements’ functions as well—sound, touch, form, taste, smell, and the activities that proceed from them.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an elemental account of embodiment: all creatures are constituted by the five great elements and are experienced through their corresponding sensory qualities (sound, touch, form, taste, smell) and resultant activities. Ethically, it supports discernment and detachment by showing the body and sense-experience as products of elemental processes rather than the true Self.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener in a philosophical explanation of how beings are formed and how sense-objects and actions arise from the five great elements, framing a reflective teaching within the Ashvamedhika Parva discourse.