Shloka 19
Varāha-avatāra: Viṣṇu’s subterranean intervention and the cosmic nāda (Śānti-parva 202)
खं वायुमग्निं सलिल॑ तथोर्वी समन्ततो<भ्याविशते शरीरी । नानाश्रया: कर्मसु वर्तमाना: श्रोत्रादय: पञठ्च गुणान् श्रयन्ते
khaṁ vāyum agniṁ salilaṁ tathorvī samantato 'bhyāviśate śarīrī | nānāśrayāḥ karmasu vartamānāḥ śrotrādayaḥ pañca guṇān śrayante ||
毗湿摩说：当具身之我舍弃一身之时，身中之虚空分归于虚空，风分归于风，火分归于火，水分归于水，地分归于地，皆各各融入其本体。然而，依托诸元素而起的诸根，如耳根等，并不随之消散；它们依自业之势继续运作，迁往他身，又复依五大而立。此教昭示道德因果：粗身归于自然，细微之器官在业力之下延续，承载经验与责任之相续。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The gross body is composed of the five great elements and, at death, those elemental portions return to their cosmic sources. However, the sense-faculties and subtle instruments do not simply vanish; driven by karma they continue their functional continuity and take up a new bodily basis, explaining moral responsibility across lives.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction during the Śānti Parva, he explains the process of dying and transition: the physical constituents dissolve back into space, air, fire, water, and earth, while the operative faculties (like hearing) persist and proceed—under karmic momentum—toward another embodiment.