Shloka 5
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
पश्यती भवते दृष्ठी रसती रसन॑ भवेत् | जिप्रती भवति प्राणं बुद्धिर्विक्रियते पृथक्
paśyatī bhavate dṛṣṭiḥ rasatī rasanā bhavet | jighratī bhavati prāṇaṃ buddhir vikriyate pṛthak ||
毗耶娑阐明：同一内在机能随其作用而显为不同的感官之力——取色相则名为见；尝滋味则为舌；嗅香气则称为生命之根（prāṇa）。因此，理智自身呈现种种差别的变异，虽本体为一，却被说作诸根各别。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that what we call separate sense-faculties are functional modifications of a single inner principle—buddhi—so multiplicity is a matter of operation and naming, not ultimate separateness.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is explaining the inner mechanics of perception: the same inner faculty is designated as sight, taste, or (in relation to smell) prāṇa, depending on the activity it performs.