Shloka 5
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
पश्यती भवते दृष्ठी रसती रसन॑ भवेत् | जिप्रती भवति प्राणं बुद्धिर्विक्रियते पृथक्
paśyatī bhavate dṛṣṭiḥ rasatī rasanā bhavet | jighratī bhavati prāṇaṃ buddhir vikriyate pṛthak ||
व्यासांनी स्पष्ट केले— तीच एक अंतःशक्ती कार्यभेदाने निरनिराळ्या इंद्रियशक्तींसारखी दिसते: रूप ग्रहण करताना ती ‘दृष्टी’ होते; रस चाखताना ‘रसना’ होते; आणि गंध ग्रहण करताना ‘घ्राण’ म्हणतात. अशा रीतीने बुद्धीच वेगवेगळ्या विकारांनी वेगळी भासते, तरी तत्त्वतः एकच आहे.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that what we call separate sense-faculties are functional modifications of a single inner principle—buddhi—so multiplicity is a matter of operation and naming, not ultimate separateness.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is explaining the inner mechanics of perception: the same inner faculty is designated as sight, taste, or (in relation to smell) prāṇa, depending on the activity it performs.