Shloka 29

Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā

Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties

Devanagari script

अध्यात्मं मन इत्याहु: पञ्चभूतात्मचारकम्‌

Transliteration

adhyātmaṁ mana ity āhuḥ pañcabhūtātmacārakam

Translation

Vāyu-deva said: “They declare that the inner spiritual domain (adhyātma) is the mind—moving and operating through the embodied self that is constituted by the five great elements.”

Word by Word

• अध्यात्मम्: the inner self / pertaining to the self (as an object of statement)
• अध्यात्मम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्यात्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• मनः: mind
• मनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• आहुः: they say / call
• Type: Verb
• Root: अह्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural

• पञ्चभूतात्मचारकम्: that which moves/operates as the self of the five elements
• पञ्चभूतात्मचारकम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चभूतात्मचारक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyu-deva)
• मनस् (mind)
• पञ्चभूत (five great elements)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse identifies adhyātma (the inner spiritual domain) with the mind, presenting the mind as the key inner principle through which the embodied being—made of the five elements—functions. Ethically, it implies that self-mastery and inner clarity begin with understanding and governing the mind.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is speaking and offering a doctrinal definition: he reports a traditional teaching (“they say”) that frames adhyātma in terms of the mind and its operation within an elemental body. The passage is part of a broader instruction on inner principles rather than an external action scene.