Shloka 353

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

Devanagari script

वायव्यस्तु गुण: स्पर्श: स्पर्शश्व॒ बहुधा स्मृतः । वायुके दो गुण जानने चाहिये--शब्द और स्पर्श। वायुका प्रमुख गुण स्पर्श ही है, जिसके अनेक भेद माने गये हैं--

Transliteration

vāyavyas tu guṇaḥ sparśaḥ | sparśaś ca bahudhā smṛtaḥ ||

Translation

భరద్వాజుడు అన్నాడు—“వాయు తత్త్వానికి గుణం స్పర్శ; ఆ ‘స్పర్శ’ కూడా అనేక విధాలుగా చెప్పబడింది।”

Word by Word

वायव्यःof/pertaining to wind (airy)

तुbut/indeed

गुणःquality

स्पर्शःtouch

चand

बहुधाin many ways

स्मृतःis said/remembered

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja

Vāyu (Air element)

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?

Air (Vāyu) is chiefly characterized by the quality of touch (sparśa), and tactile experience is described as having multiple forms. The verse supports a systematic discernment of reality by mapping elements to their defining sensory qualities.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic dialogue within Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja is explaining a classificatory teaching about the elements and their qualities. Here he identifies the principal attribute of air as touch and notes its many varieties, continuing a broader exposition on how the world is known through sense-qualities.