Shloka 17

Devanagari script

रसानां सर्वगन्धानां स्नेहानां प्राणिनां तथा । भूमियोनिरिह ज्ञेया यस्यां सर्व प्रसूयते,“इस पृथ्वीको सम्पूर्ण रसों, गन्धों, स्नेहों तथा प्राणियोंका कारण समझना चाहिये। इसीसे सबकी उत्पत्ति होती है”

Transliteration

rasānāṁ sarvagandhānāṁ snehānāṁ prāṇināṁ tathā | bhūmiyonir iha jñeyā yasyāṁ sarvaṁ prasūyate ||

Translation

اس زمین کو تمام ذائقوں، تمام خوشبوؤں، تمام چکنے مادّوں اور جانداروں کی بھی یَونی اور سبب سمجھنا چاہیے؛ کیونکہ اسی سے ہر شے پیدا ہوتی ہے۔

Word by Word

रसानाम्of juices/essences

सर्वगन्धानाम्of all smells/fragrances

स्नेहानाम्of unctuousness/oils (moisture)

प्राणिनाम्of living beings

तथाand also/likewise

भूमिःthe earth

योनिःsource/womb/cause

इहhere/in this world

ज्ञेयाshould be understood/known

यस्याम्in which

सर्वम्everything

प्रसूयतेis produced/arises

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

भ

भरद्वाज (Bharadvāja)

भ

भूमि / पृथ्वी (Earth)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Earth is presented as the generative source (yoni) from which sensory qualities like taste and smell, material unctuousness, and living beings arise—encouraging a dharmic view of nature as foundational and worthy of respect.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, the sage Bharadvāja explains a cosmological principle: the Earth functions as the matrix that produces and supports the world’s substances and life.