Shloka 11
Pañcahotṛ-Vidhāna and the Dispute of the Five Vāyus (पञ्चहोतृविधानम् — पञ्चवायूनां श्रेष्ठत्वविवादः)
अपान उवाच मयि प्रलीने प्रलयं व्रजन्ति सर्वे प्राणा: प्राणभूतां शरीरे । मयि प्रचीर्णे च पुनश्चरन्ति श्रेष्ठो हाहं पश्यत मां प्रलीनम्,अपानने कहा--ेरे लीन होनेपर प्राणियोंके शरीरमें स्थित सभी प्राण लीन हो जाते हैं तथा मेरे संचरित होनेपर सब-के-सब संचार करने लगते हैं। इसलिये मैं ही सबसे श्रेष्ठ हूँ। देखो, अब मैं लीन हो रहा हूँ (फिर तुम्हारा भी लय हो जायगा)
apāna uvāca mayi pralīne pralayaṁ vrajanti sarve prāṇāḥ prāṇabhūtāṁ śarīre | mayi pracīrṇe ca punaś caranti śreṣṭho hāhaṁ paśyata māṁ pralīnam ||
Apāna said: “When I subside, all the vital functions in the bodies of living beings move toward dissolution. When I course again, they all begin to move once more. Therefore I am the foremost. Look—now I am withdrawing into myself; with my withdrawal, the rest too will fall into abeyance.”
अपान उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the interdependence of the life-functions (prāṇas) and highlights Apāna’s crucial role: when Apāna withdraws, the other vital operations subside; when it moves, they resume. Ethically, it points to disciplined awareness of the body’s forces as a basis for self-mastery.
Apāna is speaking in a competitive or comparative discourse among the prāṇas, claiming superiority by demonstrating that its withdrawal leads the others toward cessation, and its activity enables their functioning.