Shloka 21
Pitāmaha-sabhā-varṇana & Hariścandra-māhātmya
Description of Brahmā’s Assembly and the Eminence of Hariścandra
शब्दस्पर्शों तथा रूप॑ रसो गन्धश्ष भारत । प्रकृतिश्न विकारश्न यच्चान्यत् कारणं भुव:
śabda-sparśau tathā rūpaṁ raso gandhaś ca bhārata | prakṛtiś ca vikāraś ca yac cānyat kāraṇaṁ bhuvaḥ ||
ఓ భారతా! శబ్దం, స్పర్శ, రూపం, రసం, గంధం; అలాగే ప్రకృతి, వికృతి, మరియు భువన నిర్మాణానికి ఉన్న ఇతర కారణాలన్నిటికీ తమ తమ అధిష్ఠాతృ దేవతలు ఉన్నారు।
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the world as arising from fundamental principles—sense-qualities (sound, touch, form, taste, smell) and the pair prakṛti (Nature) and vikāra (its evolutes)—implying an ordered cosmos where each domain has a governing principle/deity, encouraging a disciplined, reality-based understanding of existence.
Nārada is instructing the listener (addressed as ‘Bhārata’) by enumerating foundational constituents/causes of the world, as part of a broader explanatory discourse that links cosmic structure with the idea of presiding deities over these elements and qualities.