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Shloka 1

Skanda-janma: Śivā/Svāhā, Agni, and the Manifestation of Guha

Mahābhārata 3.214

Devanagari script

#::73:.8 #:23::.7 () हि 2 7 त्रयोदशाधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: प्राणवायुकी स्थितिका वर्णन तथा परमात्म-साक्षात्कारके उपाय ब्राह्मण उवाच पार्थिवं धातुमासाद्य शारीरो5ग्नि: कथं भवेत्‌ । अवकाशविशेषेण कथं वर्तयतेडनिल:,ब्राह्मणने पूछा--व्याध! शरीरमें रहनेवाला अग्निस्वरूप प्राण पार्थिव धातुका अवलम्बन करके कैसे रहता है? और प्राणवायु नाड़ियोंके मार्गविशेषके द्वारा किस प्रकार (रस-रक्तादिका) संचालन करता है?

Transliteration

brāhmaṇa uvāca | pārthivaṁ dhātum āsādya śārīro 'gniḥ kathaṁ bhavet | avakāśa-viśeṣeṇa kathaṁ vartayate 'nilaḥ |

Translation

قال البراهمن: «يا أيها الصيّاد، كيف يثبت نارُ الجسد—أي البرانا في صورة الحرارة الباطنة—مستندًا إلى العنصر الترابي في البدن؟ وكيف تقوم ريحُ الحياة (برانا-فايو)، وهي تسري عبر قنوات الجسد ومسالكه وفراغاته المتميزة، بوظائفها وتُجري سوائل البدن كالكيلوس والدم؟»

Word by Word

ब्राह्मणःthe Brahmin

उवाचsaid

पार्थिवम्earthy, belonging to earth

धातुम्element/constituent (dhātu)

आसाद्यhaving reached/attained; resorting to

शारीरःbodily, in the body

अग्निःfire (digestive fire)

कथम्how?

भवेत्would be / can be / becomes

अवकाश-विशेषेणby/through a particular space (channel/route)

कथम्how?

वर्तयतेcauses to move/circulate; conducts

अनिलःwind; vital air (prāṇa-vāyu)

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)

व

व्याध (hunter, addressed in the prose gloss)

प

प्राण/प्राणवायु (vital breath)

अ

अग्नि (bodily fire)

प

पार्थिव धातु (earth-element constituent)

न

नाड़ी (channels, implied by the gloss)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an inquiry into how prāṇa (vital force) and the inner ‘fire’ function within the body by relying on elemental constituents and moving through specific internal pathways. It sets up a yogic-ethical teaching: understanding the body’s workings becomes a step toward discerning the Self beyond the body and approaching realization of the Paramātman.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin addresses a hunter (vyādha) and asks technical questions about the bodily fire and the movement of prāṇa-vāyu—how they depend on the ‘earthy’ support in the body and how prāṇa operates through distinct internal spaces/channels. This initiates a didactic exchange leading toward methods of spiritual insight.