Shloka 9
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
अद्रवत्वादनग्नित्वादभूमित्वादवायुत: । आकाश स्याप्रमेयत्वाद् वृक्षाणां नास्ति भौतिकम्
adravatvād anagnitvād abhūmitvād avāyutaḥ | ākāśasyāprameyatvād vṛkṣāṇāṃ nāsti bhautikam ||
婆罗堕阇说道：“树中不见液性，不见火分，亦不得其地与风之分；而虚空不可量度，故亦不能在树中确立。由是，树木由粗大诸元素所成之说，难以证明。”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues from observable properties and knowability: if the usual marks of the gross elements (liquidity, heat/fire, earthiness, motion/air) are not evident in trees, and if space is not measurable in them, then one cannot straightforwardly establish that trees are materially constituted by the gross elements. It highlights limits of inference when empirical indicators are absent.
In a philosophical exchange in Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja presents a reasoned objection: he challenges a material-elemental account of trees by listing the absence of perceptible signs of the elements and by invoking the immeasurability of ākāśa, concluding that the trees’ gross-material constitution is not demonstrable on those grounds.