Shloka 2
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
तेषु भूतानि मुहान्ति महाभूतेषु पजचसु । शब्दस्पर्शनरूपेषु रसगन्धक्रियासु च,इन्हीं पञ्च महाभूतोंमें अर्थात् इनके शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध नामक विषयोंमें समस्त प्राणी मोहित रहते हैं
teṣu bhūtāni muhyanti mahābhūteṣu pañcasu | śabda-sparśana-rūpeṣu rasa-gandha-kriyāsu ca ||
Vāyu-deva said: “Living beings become deluded in relation to the five great elements. They remain infatuated with the objects that arise from them—sound, touch, form, taste, and smell—and with the activities driven by these sense-objects.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that delusion arises when beings identify with and chase the sensory objects connected to the five elements—sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. Ethical clarity and self-mastery require seeing these as transient and not as the true basis of happiness or identity.
Vāyu-deva is speaking as an instructor, explaining why embodied beings get trapped in worldly experience: they are captivated by the elemental, sense-based field of life and the actions it provokes.