Shloka 14
Pañcahotṛ-Vidhāna and the Dispute of the Five Vāyus (पञ्चहोतृविधानम् — पञ्चवायूनां श्रेष्ठत्वविवादः)
मयि प्रलीने प्रलयं व्रजन्ति सर्वे प्राणा: प्राणभूतां शरीरे । मयि प्रचीर्णे च पुनश्चरन्ति श्रेष्ठो हाहं पश्यत मां प्रलीनम्,“मेरे 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)'
mayi pralīne pralayaṁ vrajanti sarve prāṇāḥ prāṇabhūtāṁ śarīre | mayi pracīrṇe ca punaś caranti śreṣṭho hāhaṁ paśyata māṁ pralīnam ||
The Brāhmaṇa said: “When I subside, all the vital breaths that animate a creature’s body also sink into dissolution. When I move again, they all begin to move once more. Therefore I am the foremost. Look—now I am withdrawing; then your own dissolution will follow as well.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the dependence of all bodily life-functions (prāṇas) on a single governing principle: when that principle withdraws, life collapses into dissolution; when it becomes active, life resumes. Ethically, it redirects pride and fear toward discernment of what truly sustains life, encouraging humility and insight into impermanence.
In a brāhmaṇa’s discourse, a principle identified with the life-force (prāṇa) proclaims its supremacy by describing how all other vital functions cease when it ‘dissolves’ and revive when it ‘moves.’ The speaker urges the listeners to witness this withdrawal, warning that their own dissolution follows when the sustaining life-force departs.