Shloka 11
Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)
तत्त्वज्ञानमें कुशल पुरुषोंका कथन है कि त्वचा अध्यात्म है, स्पर्श अधिभूत है और वायु अधिदैवत है ।। मनो<ध्यात्ममिति प्राहुर्यथा शास्त्रविशारदा: | मन्तव्यमधिभूतं तु चन्द्रमा श्चाधिदेवतम्
tattvajñāne kuśalāḥ puruṣāḥ prāhuḥ—tvacā adhyātmam, sparśaḥ adhibhūtam, vāyuḥ adhidaivatam || mano 'dhyātmam iti prāhur yathā śāstraviśāradāḥ | mantavyam adhibhūtaṃ tu candramāś cādhidaivatam ||
تتّو گیان میں ماہر لوگ کہتے ہیں کہ جلد ادھیاتم ہے، لمس ادھی بھوت ہے اور وایو ادھی دیوتا ہے۔ اسی طرح شاستر کے ماہر کہتے ہیں کہ من ادھیاتم ہے؛ جس پر غور کیا جائے وہ (منتویہ) ادھی بھوت ہے؛ اور چاند (چندرما) ادھی دیوتا ہے۔
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps human experience through a threefold lens: (1) adhyātma—the inner faculty or locus in the person (skin, mind), (2) adhibhūta—the corresponding object or sensory domain (touch, the thinkable object), and (3) adhidaivata—the presiding cosmic/divine principle (wind for touch/skin; the Moon for mind). This framework trains discernment by linking body-mind functions to their objects and to a governing cosmic order.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Yājñavalkya is expounding a doctrinal classification used in self-knowledge teachings. He is not describing an external event but delivering a systematic explanation of how faculties (senses and mind) relate to their objects and to presiding deities, as part of a broader discourse on understanding the self and reality.