Shloka 25
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
उदानादुच्छवसिति च प्रतिभेदाच्च भाषते । इत्येते वायव: पज्च चेष्टयन्तीह देहिनम्,प्राणसे प्राणी चलने-फिरनेका काम करता है, व्यानसे व्यायाम (बलसाध्य उद्यम) करता है, अपान वायु ऊपरसे नीचेकी ओर जाती है, समान वायु हृदयमें स्थित होती है, उदानसे पुरुष उच्छवास लेता है और कण्ठ, तालु आदि स्थानोंके भेदसे शब्दों एवं अक्षरोंका उच्चारण करता है। इस प्रकार ये पाँच वायुके परिणाम हैं, जो शरीरधारीको चेष्टाशील बनाते हैं
bharadvāja uvāca | prāṇena prāṇī calana-phirane kāmaṁ karoti, vyānena vyāyāmaṁ (bala-sādhya udyamaṁ) karoti, apāna-vāyuḥ ūrdhvād adhaḥ gacchati, samāna-vāyuḥ hṛdaye tiṣṭhati, udānena puruṣa ucchvāsaṁ gṛhṇāti ca pratibhedāc ca bhāṣate | ity ete vāyavaḥ pañca ceṣṭayantīha dehinam ||
Bharadvāja said: “By prāṇa a living being performs ordinary movement and activity; by vyāna he exerts himself in strenuous effort; apāna moves downward from above; samāna abides in the region of the heart; and by udāna a person draws the outward breath and, through the differentiations of the throat, palate, and other organs, produces speech—sounds and syllables. Thus these five vital airs operate here, setting the embodied being into action.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse explains that embodied life is animated by five vital airs—prāṇa, vyāna, apāna, samāna, and udāna—each governing specific functions such as movement, exertion, downward flow, inner balancing in the heart-region, and exhalation/speech. Understanding these functions supports self-knowledge and disciplined living.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja is instructing about the inner workings of the body and life-force, detailing how the five vāyus operate to produce action and speech in the embodied being.