Shloka 38
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
तत्रैकगुणमाकाशं द्विगुणो वायुरुच्यते । त्रिगुणं ज्योतिरित्याहुरापश्चापि चतुर्गुणा:
tatraikaguṇam ākāśaṃ dviguṇo vāyur ucyate | triguṇaṃ jyotir ity āhur āpaś cāpi caturguṇāḥ ||
Ваю-дева сказал: «Среди пяти великих элементов пространство считается обладающим лишь одним качеством. Ветер описывают как имеющий два. Огонь объявляют наделённым тремя качествами, а вода, как говорят, имеет четыре.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a hierarchy of the elements by the number of perceptible qualities (guṇas) they manifest: space has one, wind two, fire three, and water four—indicating increasing complexity as creation becomes more tangible.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal explanation of the constituents of the world (the mahābhūtas), using the traditional scheme of counting their qualities to clarify how subtle reality differentiates into grosser forms.