Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 50
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
कठिनश्विक्कण: श्लक्ष्ण: पिच्छिलो दारुणो मृदुः । एवं द्वादशविस्तारो वायव्यो गुण उच्यते
vāyudeva uvāca | kaṭhinaś cikkaṇaḥ ślakṣṇaḥ picchilo dāruṇo mṛduḥ | evaṃ dvādaśa-vistāro vāyavyo guṇa ucyate |
कठिनश्चिक्कणः श्लक्ष्णः पिच्छिलो दारुणो मृदुः । एवं द्वादशविस्तारो वायव्यो गुण उच्यते ॥
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The core teaching is that the element Wind (vāyu) is characterized by the sense-quality of touch (sparśa), and that this tactile quality appears in many modes—here summarized as part of a twelvefold range—so a seeker should understand nature’s guṇas systematically and without attachment.
Within the Anugītā’s guru–disciple style instruction in the Aśvamedhika Parva, Vāyudeva speaks as an authoritative voice explaining the qualities associated with vāyu, listing tactile descriptors to classify how touch is experienced and analyzed by dharma-knowing seers.