Shloka 11

जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः

Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry

Devanagari script

रूप॑ चक्षुविपाकश्च त्रिविधं ज्योतिरुच्यते । घ्रेयं प्राणं शरीरं च एते भूमिगुणा: स्मृता:,रूप, नेत्र और परिपाक--इन तीन गुणोंके रूपमें तेजकी ही स्थिति बतायी जाती है। गन्ध, प्राण तथा शरीर--ये तीनों भूमिके गुण माने गये हैं

Transliteration

rūpaṃ cakṣurvipākaś ca trividhaṃ jyotir ucyate | ghreyaṃ prāṇaṃ śarīraṃ ca ete bhūmiguṇāḥ smṛtāḥ ||

Translation

രൂപം, ചക്ഷു, വിപാകം (ജീർണ്ണം/പരിവർത്തനം)—ഈ മൂന്നിലൂടെ തേജസ് തത്ത്വം പറയപ്പെടുന്നു. ഗന്ധം, പ്രാണൻ, ശരീരം—ഈ മൂന്നും ഭൂമിയുടെ ഗുണങ്ങളായി സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു.

Word by Word

रूपम्form/colour (visible form)

चक्षुःeye/vision

विपाकःripening/maturation; digestion (resultant transformation)

चand

त्रिविधम्threefold

ज्योतिःlight/tejas

उच्यतेis said/is called

घ्रेयम्that which is to be smelt; smell-object

प्राणम्breath/vital air

शरीरम्body

चand

एतेthese

भूमि-गुणाःqualities of earth

स्मृताःare considered/are remembered as

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma classifies how elemental principles are inferred in the human system: tejas is known through form, sight, and digestion; earth is known through smell, vital breath, and the bodily structure. This supports ethical self-mastery by analyzing experience into elemental functions rather than identifying the Self with them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma continues a philosophical exposition to Yudhiṣṭhira, explaining the constituents and qualities of embodied life through elemental categories and their observable functions.