Shanti Parva Adhyaya 185 Shloka 43 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 43

Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)

Devanagari script

अव्याहतैश्लेतयते न वेत्ति विषमस्थितै: । आप्याय्यन्ते च ते नित्यं धातवस्तैस्तु धातुभि:,जब वायुसम्बन्धी गुण बाधित न होकर शब्दके साथ रहता है, तब मनुष्य शब्दको सुनता और समझता है; किंतु जब वायुसम्बन्धी गुण दीवार अथवा प्रतिकूल वायुसे बाधित होकर विषम अवस्थामें स्थित हो जाते हैं, तब शब्दका ग्रहण नहीं होता है। वे शब्द आदिके उत्पादक धातु (इन्द्रियगोलक) धातुओं (इन पाँचों भूतों) द्वारा ही पोषित होते हैं

Transliteration

avyāhataiḥ śrūyate na vetti viṣamasthitaiḥ | āpyāyyante ca te nityaṃ dhātavas tais tu dhātubhiḥ ||

Translation

अव्याहतैर्वायुगुणैः शब्देन सह यदा स्थितैः । शृणोति पुरुषः शब्दं बुध्यते च ततः परम् ॥ व्याहतेषु तु तेष्वेव भित्त्या वा प्रतिवाततः । विषमस्थेषु न गृह्णाति शब्दं श्रोत्रेण मानवः ॥ धातवश्चेन्द्रियाणां च शब्दादीनां च कारणम् । तैर्भूतधातुभिर्नित्यं पोष्यन्ते धातवोऽपि ते ॥

Word by Word

अव्याहतैःby unobstructed (ones/means)

चेतयतेperceives / becomes aware

नnot

वेत्तिknows / understands

विषमस्थितैःby those in an uneven/abnormal state

आप्याय्यन्तेare nourished / are replenished

चand

तेthey

नित्यम्always

धातवःconstituents / elements

तैःby those

तुbut

धातुभिःby (other) constituents/elements

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja

vāyu (air/wind principle)

śabda (sound)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sense-perception depends on proper, unobstructed functioning of the elemental factors involved (here, the vāyu-related function enabling hearing). When conditions disturb that function, cognition fails; embodied experience is contingent and conditioned by the bhūtas and dhātus.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic exchange in Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja explains the mechanics of hearing: sound is grasped when the wind-related sensory function is unobstructed, but not when blocked by barriers or contrary air; he adds that bodily/sensory constituents are sustained by the elemental constituents.