Shloka 41
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
मृदड्भभेरीशड्खानां स्तनयित्नो रथस्य च | यः वश्चिच्छुयते शब्द: प्राणिनो5प्राणिनो5पि वा । एतेषामेव सर्वेषां विषये सम्प्रकीर्तित:
mṛdaṅga-bherī-śaṅkhānāṁ stanayitno rathasya ca | yaś cec chūyate śabdaḥ prāṇino 'prāṇino 'pi vā | eteṣām eva sarveṣāṁ viṣaye samprakīrtitaḥ ||
भरद्वाज उवाच— मृदङ्गभेरीशङ्खानां स्तनयित्नो रथस्य च । यश्च कश्चित् श्रूयते शब्दः प्राणिनामप्राणिनामपि वा ॥ एतेषामेव सर्वेषां विषये सः सम्प्रकीर्तितः ॥
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
All audible phenomena—whether produced by instruments, nature, vehicles, living beings, or inert objects—can be comprehensively accounted for within a defined set of categories of sound. The verse emphasizes the universality of śabda and the usefulness of systematic classification.
In a didactic exchange in Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja is explaining a doctrinal analysis of sound (śabda). He illustrates the teaching with familiar examples—drums, conch, thunder, and chariot-noise—to show that every heard sound, animate or inanimate, is included within the previously stated framework.