Shloka 37

Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā

Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties

Devanagari script

द्विपादबहुपादानि तिर्यग्गतिमतीनि च

Transliteration

dvipāda-bahupādāni tiryag-gatimātīni ca

Translation

Vāyu said: “(There are) beings with two feet and with many feet, and also those that move in a horizontal, animal-like course.”

Word by Word

• द्विपादबहुपादानि: two-footed and many-footed (beings)
• द्विपादबहुपादानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विपादबहुपाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Plural

• तिर्यग्गतिमतीनि: having a horizontal/animal mode of movement; moving as animals
• तिर्यग्गतिमतीनि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तिर्यग्गतिमत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line points to the diversity of embodied life—bipeds, many-footed creatures, and those characterized by ‘tiryak’ (horizontal/animal) movement—inviting reflection on the shared condition of living beings and the ethical responsibility to recognize life in varied forms.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is speaking and, in the course of his discourse, enumerates categories of creatures by their mode of locomotion—two-footed, many-footed, and ‘tiryag’-moving beings—setting up a broader point about the range of living beings under discussion.