Shloka 15
Bhīṣma Parva, Adhyāya 4 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Vyāsa Saṃvāda on Kāla and Jayalakṣaṇa
Signs of Victory
तेषां विंशतिरेकोना महाभूतेषु पठचसु । चतुर्विशतिरुद्दिष्टा गायत्री लोकसम्मता,ये स्थावर-जंगमरूप उन्नीस प्राणी हैं। इनके साथ पाँच महाभूतोंको गिन लेनेपर इनकी संख्या चौबीस हो जाती है। गायत्रीके भी चौबीस ही अक्षर होते हैं। इसलिये इन चौबीस भूतोंको भी लोकसम्मत गायत्री कहा गया है
teṣāṁ viṁśatir ekonā mahābhūteṣu pañcasu | caturviṁśatir uddiṣṭā gāyatrī lokasammatā ||
Sañjaya said: Of those beings, they are said to be nineteen; when the five great elements are included among them, the total is declared to be twenty-four. Because the Gāyatrī—accepted by the world as authoritative—also consists of twenty-four syllables, these twenty-four constituents are likewise spoken of as a ‘Gāyatrī’ in common understanding.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links a cosmological enumeration (nineteen living categories plus the five great elements) to the sacred Vedic standard of the 24-syllabled Gāyatrī, suggesting that the world’s structure can be contemplated through a revered metrical/sacral framework.
Sañjaya continues an explanatory passage by giving a numerical account of beings and elements, then justifies calling the set ‘Gāyatrī’ because its total (24) matches the well-known syllable-count of the Gāyatrī metre/mantra.