Shloka 313
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिकभूतं तु मन्तव्यं ब्रह्मा तत्राधिदेवतम् । पाँच इन्द्रियों और छठे मनको जाननेवाली बुद्धिको अध्यात्म कहते हैं। मन्तव्य उसका अधिभूत और ब्रह्मा उसके अधिदेवता हैं
adhikabhūtaṃ tu mantavyaṃ brahmā tatrādhidevatam | pañcendriyāṇi ca ṣaṣṭhaṃ manaś ca jānātī yā buddhiḥ sā adhyātmaṃ ucyate | mantavyaṃ tasyādhibhūtaṃ brahmā tasyā adhidevatā ||
Vāyu sprach: „Wisse, dass das ‘zu Denkende’ zur adhibhūta gehört, zum Reich der verkörperten Elemente und Gegenstände, und dass Brahmā seine adhidevatā, die waltende Gottheit, ist. Die unterscheidende Erkenntniskraft (buddhi), welche die fünf Sinne und den Geist als sechsten erfasst, heißt adhyātma, das innere geistige Prinzip. Für dieses innere Prinzip ist das ‘Denkobjekt’ sein adhibhūta, und Brahmā steht als seine adhidevatā darüber.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps inner experience to a threefold framework: adhyātma (the inner principle, here identified with the intellect that understands the senses and mind), adhibhūta (the realm of objects—what is to be contemplated), and adhidevatā (the presiding divine principle), naming Brahmā as the adhidevatā in this context. The ethical implication is disciplined discernment: know the faculties, know their objects, and recognize the governing order behind them.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal classification used in Mahābhārata’s spiritual discourse—distinguishing the inner self-domain (adhyātma), the objective/elemental domain (adhibhūta), and the divine presiding domain (adhidevatā)—to guide correct contemplation and understanding.