Shloka 29
Brahmopadeśa: Adhipatitva-kathana, Dharma-lakṣaṇa, and Kṣetra–Kṣetrajña Viveka
Book 14, Chapter 43
पार्थिवो यस्तु गन्धो वै घप्राणेन हि स गृहाते । प्राणस्थश्न तथा वायुर्गन्धज्ञाने विधीयते,पृथ्वीका जो गन्ध नामक गुण है, उसका नासिकाके द्वारा ग्रहण होता है और नासिकामें स्थित वायु उस गन्धका अनुभव करानेमें सहायक होती है
pārthivo yastu gandho vai ghrāṇena hi sa gṛhyate | prāṇasthaś ca tathā vāyur gandhajñāne vidhīyate ||
Vāyu-deva said: “The fragrance that belongs to the earth-element is indeed apprehended through the nose. And the vital air situated in the organ of smell is appointed to enable the knowing of that fragrance.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Each element has a defining quality (here, earth has smell), each sense has its proper object (the nose grasps smell), and prāṇa/vāyu functions as the subtle enabler that makes sensory cognition operative.
Vāyu-deva is explaining a doctrinal point about how perception works: the earth’s quality called fragrance is perceived through the nose, and the vital air located there assists and regulates that act of knowing.