Shloka 226
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिभूतं तथा गन्धो वायुस्तत्राधिदैवतम् । पृथ्वी पाँचवाँ भूत है। नासिका उसका अध्यात्म, गन्ध उसका अधिभूत और वायु उसका अधिदैवत कहा जाता है
adhibhūtaṁ tathā gandho vāyus tatrādhidaivatam |
Vāyu-deva said: “In this context, fragrance is declared the adhibhūta (the gross, elemental object), and Vāyu (Wind) is the adhidaivata (the presiding deity) there.” The teaching places smell within the triad of inner faculty, external object, and divine regulator, guiding the listener to see perception as a dharmic order rather than mere indulgence. Thus, for earth—the fifth element—the nose is the adhyātma, fragrance is the adhibhūta, and Vāyu is said to be the adhidaivata.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
It maps perception into a threefold framework: the external object (adhibhūta: smell/fragrance), the divine regulator (adhidaivata: Vāyu), and implicitly the inner faculty (adhyātma, understood here as the nose/smell-sense). This encourages disciplined awareness and sense-restraint by recognizing a cosmic order behind sensory experience.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal exposition on the elements and senses, specifying which external object and which presiding deity correspond to the domain of smell.