Shloka 33
अग्नीषोमोत्पत्तिः
Agni–Soma Origin and the Brahmāgnīṣomīya Doctrine
उदानस्तस्य पुत्रो$ भूद् व्यानस्तस्याभवत् सुतः । अपानभ्ष ततो ज्ञेय: प्राणश्षापि ततो5पर:
udānas tasya putro 'bhūd vyānas tasyābhavat sutaḥ | apānaś ca tato jñeyaḥ prāṇaś cāpi tato 'paraḥ ||
Bhishma sprach: „Aus ihm wurde Udāna geboren; Udānas Sohn war Vyāna. Danach soll man Apāna als seinen Nachkommen erkennen, und aus Apāna entstand sodann Prāṇa.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches an ordered understanding of the vital airs (prāṇas) by presenting them in a generative sequence. The ethical implication is that embodied life is governed by intelligible, interlinked functions; knowing this order supports self-control and contemplative insight rather than living impulsively.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues his didactic exposition to Yudhiṣṭhira. Here he enumerates the vital airs—Udāna, Vyāna, Apāna, and Prāṇa—using kinship language (“son/offspring”) to indicate derivation and systematic relation among physiological principles.