Shloka 5
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
इत्येतै: पञ्चभि र्भूतैर्युक्ते स्थावरजजड्भमम् । श्रोत्रं ग्राणं रस: स्पर्शो दृशटिश्रेन्द्रियसंज्ञिता:
ity etaiḥ pañcabhir bhūtair yukte sthāvarajaṅgamaṁ jagat | śrotraṁ ghrāṇaṁ rasaḥ sparśo dṛṣṭiś cendriya-saṁjñitāḥ ||
Bharadvāja disse: “Assim, este mundo inteiro — tanto o imóvel quanto o móvel — é constituído por estes cinco grandes elementos. De suas porções sutis surgem as chamadas cinco faculdades sensoriais: audição (ouvido), olfato (nariz), paladar (língua), tato (pele) e visão (olho).”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
All embodied experience is grounded in the five great elements, and the sense-faculties arise from the subtle aspects of those elements; understanding this supports discernment between the material constituents and the knowing self.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja explains a cosmological-psychological framework: the world (moving and unmoving) is made of five elements, and the five senses are derived from their subtle portions.