Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 53
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
षडजर्षभ: स गान्धारो मध्यम: पञ्चमस्तथा । अतः परं तु विज्ञेयो निषादो धैवतस्तथा । इष्टश्ानिष्टशब्दश्न॒ संहतः प्रविभागवान्
ṣaḍajaṛṣabhaḥ sa gāndhāro madhyamaḥ pañcamas tathā | ataḥ paraṃ tu vijñeyo niṣādo dhaivatas tathā | iṣṭāniṣṭaśabdaś ca saṃhataḥ pravibhāgavān ||
风神说道：“名为娑阇（Ṣaḍja）之音，为诸音之‘雄牛’——即主音；其后为乾陀罗（Gāndhāra）、中音（Madhyama）、第五音（Pañcama）。再往后，当知有尼沙陀（Niṣāda）与提婆多（Dhaivata）。声音无论悦耳或刺耳，唯在适当和合、并能分辨其分节之时，方成其义。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames sound as ethically and aesthetically significant: tones may be pleasing or displeasing, but they gain proper value when arranged in harmonious combination and also understood through clear distinctions—suggesting disciplined knowledge and right ordering as the basis of meaningful expression.
Vāyu-deva is explaining the structure of musical sound by naming key notes (svaras) and indicating how sound functions when integrated (saṃhata) and differentiated (pravibhāgavān), as part of a broader instruction on knowledge and refined understanding.