Shloka 9
कर्मविद्या-भेदः
Karma–Vidyā Distinction: Paths of Bondage and Release
ज्योतिषो5पि गुणं रूप॑ वायुराददते यदा । प्रशाम्पति ततो ज्योतिर्वायुर्दोधूयते महान्
jyotiṣo ’pi guṇaṃ rūpaṃ vāyur ādadate yadā | praśāmyati tato jyotir vāyur dōdhūyate mahān ||
व्यास उवाच—यदा वायुतत्त्वं ज्योतिषोऽपि गुणं रूपं च आदत्ते, तदा तत् ज्योतिः प्रशाम्यति वायौ च लीयते। ततः स महान् वायुः स्वमहावेगेन सर्वं खं मथ्नाति क्षोभयति च।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates the hierarchical dissolution of the elements: fire/light loses its distinctness when its qualities are taken up by wind, and wind then powerfully agitates space. Ethically, it supports vairāgya—recognizing that all compounded powers are transient and ultimately absorbed into more pervasive principles.
In Vyāsa’s exposition (within Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction), he describes a process where the fiery principle becomes extinguished and merges into wind; then wind, intensified, stirs the whole of space—part of a broader account of elemental transformation/dissolution.