Shloka 54
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अग्नि जिसका रूप है, रुधिर जिसका प्रवाह है, पवन जिसका स्पर्श है, पृथ्वी जिसमें हाड़-मासं आदि कठोर रूपमें प्रकट है, आकाश जिसका कान है, जो रोग और शोकसे चारों ओरसे घिरा हुआ है, जो पाँच प्रवाहोंसे आवृत है, जो पाँच भूतोंसे भलीभाँति युक्त है, जिसके नौ द्वार हैं, जिसके दो (जीव और ईश्वर) देवता हैं, जो रजोगुणमय, अदृश्य (नाशवान), (सुख, दुःख और मोहरूप) तीन गुणोंसे तथा वात, पित्त और कफ--इन तीन धातुओंसे युक्त है, जो संसर्गमें रत और जड है, उसको शरीर समझना चाहिये || ५१-- ५३ ।। दुश्चर॑ सर्वलोके5स्मिन् सत्त्वं प्रति समाश्रितम् । एतदेव हि लोकेडस्मिन् कालचक्रं प्रवर्तते,जिसका सम्पूर्ण लोकमें विचरण करना दुः:खद है, जो बुद्धिके आश्रित है, वही इस लोकमें कालचक्र है
agnir yasya rūpaṁ, rudhiraṁ yasya pravāhaḥ, pavano yasya sparśaḥ, pṛthivī yatra hāḍa-māṁsādi kaṭhora-rūpeṇa prakaṭā, ākāśaṁ yasya karṇaḥ; yo roga-śokābhyāṁ sarvataḥ parivṛtaḥ; yaḥ pañca-pravāhaiḥ āvṛtaḥ; yaḥ pañca-bhūtaiḥ samyag yuktaḥ; yasya nava dvārāṇi; yasya dvau (jīva-īśvarau) devatau; yaḥ rajo-guṇamayaḥ, adṛśyaḥ (nāśavān), sukha-duḥkha-moha-rūpaiḥ tribhir guṇaiḥ vāta-pitta-kapha-nāmabhiś ca tribhir dhātubhiḥ yuktaḥ; yaḥ saṁsarge rataḥ jaḍaś ca—taṁ śarīraṁ vijānīyāt. duścaraṁ sarva-loke ’smin sattvaṁ prati samāśritam; etad eva hi loke ’smin kāla-cakraṁ pravartate.
Vāyu said: “That which has fire as its form, blood as its flowing current, and wind as its touch; in which earth appears as the hard substance of bone and flesh; whose ‘ear’ is space; which is hemmed in on every side by disease and grief; which is enclosed by five streams; which is well-composed of the five elements; which has nine gates; which has two deities—individual self and Lord; which is dominated by rajas, imperceptible and perishable; which is bound up with the three modes as pleasure, pain, and delusion, and with the three bodily humors—vāta, pitta, and kapha; which delights in contact and is inert—this should be understood as the body. And that which is hard to traverse throughout this world, which depends upon the mind/intellect—this indeed is the Wheel of Time that turns in this world.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage defines the body as a composite of elements, qualities, and humors—perishable, afflicted by disease and grief, and inert by itself—so that one should not mistake it for the true self. It then points to the relentless ‘wheel of Time’ that governs embodied existence, urging discernment and detachment.
Vāyudeva is speaking in a didactic context, offering a philosophical analysis of embodiment: how the body is constituted (elements, openings, guṇas, doṣas) and how life in the world is driven by Time’s cyclical motion, making worldly wandering difficult.