Shloka 43

Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga

Adhyātma-Upadeśa

Devanagari script

शब्द: स्पर्शस्तथा रूपं द्रवश्वाणां गुणा: स्मृता:

Transliteration

śabdaḥ sparśas tathā rūpaṁ dravaśvāṇāṁ guṇāḥ smṛtāḥ

Translation

वायुरुवाच—शब्दः स्पर्शस्तथा रूपं द्रवाणां गुणाः स्मृताः ॥

Word by Word

• शब्दः: sound
• शब्दः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शब्द
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्पर्शः: touch
• स्पर्शः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्पर्श
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: and also/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• रूपम्: form/colour
• रूपम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• द्रव्याणाम्: of substances
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रव्य
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• गुणाः: qualities
• गुणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• स्मृताः: are said/are considered
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyu-deva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse classifies sensory qualities (guṇas) associated with a category of matter—here, fluids—by listing sound, touch, and form. It reflects a traditional analytic framework used to explain how the world is experienced through the senses and how material categories are distinguished by their perceptible attributes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is speaking in a didactic passage, presenting a systematic account of the qualities of substances/elements. The statement functions as part of a broader explanatory discourse on the constitution of the world and the properties by which different kinds of matter are known.