Shloka 22
तथेत्य् उक्त्वाथ सो ऽप्य् एनं विवेश पवनो लघुः शीतो ऽतिरूक्षः शोषाय तद्देहस्यातिदुःसहः
tathety uktvātha so 'py enaṃ viveśa pavano laghuḥ śīto 'tirūkṣaḥ śoṣāya taddehasyātiduḥsahaḥ
“So be it,” he said—and then the wind too entered him: subtle and swift, cold and exceedingly dry, intent on desiccating that body, and unbearable in its force.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Devotional
Quality: authoritative
Phase: Persecution
Bhakti Quality: Steadfast inner absorption (smaraṇa) that remains unmoved by external harm.
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
This verse depicts wind as a precise cosmic instrument—subtle, swift, and capable of severe bodily effect—illustrating how elemental forces execute the workings of the world-order.
Parāśara narrates the elements as active agents that can “enter” and act upon a being; their qualities (coldness, dryness, swiftness) directly shape embodied experience and suffering.
Even when not named in the verse, the Purāṇic frame treats such orderly operation of the elements as occurring within Vishnu’s sovereign cosmic governance—nature’s powers function as part of the larger sustaining order.