Shloka 12
Jvarotpatti — The Origin and Distribution of Jvara
Fever
चक्षुषी नासिकाकर्णो त्वक् जिद्वेति च पठचमी । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थानां ज्ञानानि कवयो विदु:
cakṣuṣī nāsikākarṇau tvak jihveti ca pañcamī | indriyāṇīndriyārthānāṃ jñānāni kavayo viduḥ ||
Sinabi ni Asita: “Ipinahahayag ng mga pantas na ang limang sangkap ng kaalaman—ang dalawang mata, ang ilong, ang dalawang tainga, ang balat, at bilang ikalima ang dila—ang mga kasangkapang sa pamamagitan nito natatanto ng tao ang kani-kaniyang bagay. Kaya nauunawaan ng marurunong na ang pagdama sa pamamagitan ng mga pandama ang pintuang-daan kung saan nakikilala ang daigdig, at dahil dito’y dapat itong maunawaan nang wasto at mapangasiwaan.”
असित उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the five organs of knowledge (eyes, nose, ears, skin, tongue) as the instruments by which sense-objects are apprehended, implying that ethical life requires understanding and regulating sense-perception rather than being driven by it.
In Asita’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he is explaining a classificatory teaching about the human faculties—specifically how knowledge of the external world arises through the senses—within a broader instruction on right understanding and self-mastery.