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 ||
ಯಾಜ್ಞವಲ್ಕ್ಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಶ್ರವಣ, ಸ್ಪರ್ಶ, ದರ್ಶನ, ರಸನೆ (ಜಿಹ್ವೆ) ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಾಣ—ಇವು ಐದು ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿವೆ. ‘ಸರ್ಗ’ (ಸೃಷ್ಟಿ-ಪ್ರವೃತ್ತಿ) ಆರನೆಯದು ಎಂದು ಘೋಷಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ಸಮೂಹವು ‘ಬಹುಚಿಂತಾತ್ಮಕ’—ಅನೇಕ ಚಿಂತನೆಗಳಿಂದ ಅಶಾಂತ—ತತ್ತ್ವವೆಂದು ಸ್ಮೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ।
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.