Shloka 23
Śukasya Janma-yoga-phalaṁ — Vyāsasya Tapasā Putrārthaḥ (Śānti-parva 310)
ऊर्ध्व॑ स्रोतस्तथा तिर्यगुत्पद्यपि नराधिप । अष्टमं सर्गमित्याहुरेतदार्जवकं स्मृतम्,तदनन्तर जिसका प्रवाह ऊपरकी ओर है, वह प्राण एवं तिरछा चलनेवाले समान, व्यान और उदान--ये सब प्रकट हुए। यह आठवाँ सर्ग है। इसीको आर्जवक सर्ग कहा गया है
ūrdhva-srotaḥ tathā tiryag utpadyāpi narādhipa | aṣṭamaṁ sargam ity āhur etad ārjavakaṁ smṛtam ||
Yājñavalkya disse: “Ó rei, também surgiu a corrente que flui para cima e, do mesmo modo, a que se move transversalmente. Elas são identificadas com as funções vitais — prāṇa e, entre os sopros de movimento lateral, vyāna e udāna. Isto é declarado como a oitava emanação (sarga), lembrada como a ‘criação Ārjavaka’.”
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse classifies a stage of creation in terms of the emergence of vital currents (prāṇas). It highlights that life is structured by distinct directional functions—especially the upward and transverse movements—suggesting an ordered, knowable physiology-cosmology that supports yogic and ethical self-discipline.
In Yājñavalkya’s discourse to the king, the account of emanations (sargas) continues. Here he identifies the eighth sarga—called Ārjavaka—as the manifestation of specific vital currents, described by their direction of flow (upward and sideways) and linked with prāṇa-functions such as vyāna and udāna.