Shloka 253
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिकभूतं विसर्गश्न मित्रस्तत्राधिदेवतम् निम्न गतिवाला अपान एवं गुदा अध्यात्म कहा गया है और मलत्याग उसका अधिभूत तथा मित्र उसके अधिदेवता हैं
adhikabhūtaṃ visargaś ca mitras tatrādhidevatam | nimnagativālā apāna evaṃ gudā adhyātma ucyate ca | malatyāgaḥ tad adhikabhūtaṃ mitras tasyādhidevatā ||
Vāyu-deva said: “For this function, the outward discharge (excretion) is its adhibhūta (gross, physical aspect), and Mitra is the presiding adhidevatā (divine regulator).” The downward-moving vital current is Apāna, and its inner seat (adhyātma) is said to be the anus. Thus, the act of eliminating waste is the bodily manifestation, while Mitra stands as the deity who oversees this order.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps a bodily function to a threefold framework: the physical act (adhibhūta), the presiding divine principle (adhidevatā), and the inner seat in the body-mind system (adhyātma). It teaches that even ordinary physiological processes are governed by cosmic order and should be understood with reverence and discipline.
Vāyu-deva is explaining a doctrinal classification of vital functions, identifying Apāna as the downward-moving life-current, locating its adhyātma seat in the guda (anus), and naming Mitra as the adhidevatā connected with the regulation of this eliminative process.