Shloka 196
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
स्प्रष्टव्यमधिभूतं च विद्युत् तत्राधिदेवतम् । वायु दूसरा भूत है। त्वचा उसका अध्यात्म तथा स्पर्श उसका अधिभूत सुना गया है और विद्युत् उसका अधिदैवत है
spraṣṭavyam adhibhūtaṃ ca vidyut tatra adhidaivatam | vāyu dvitīyaṃ bhūtaṃ; tvacā tasya adhyātmaṃ tathā sparśaḥ tasya adhibhūtaḥ śrutaḥ, vidyut tasya adhidaivatam ||
Dijo Vāyu-deva: «En cuanto al elemento viento—el segundo de los elementos groseros—su base interior (adhyātma) es la piel; su campo objetivo (adhibhūta) es el tacto; y su principio divino rector (adhidaivata) es el relámpago. Así debe comprenderse cómo una misma realidad se dispone como interioridad, experiencia externa y gobierno divino.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a threefold mapping of experience: the inner (adhyātma: skin as the sense-organ basis), the outer (adhibhūta: touch as the objective field), and the divine regulator (adhidaiva: lightning as the presiding principle) for the air element. This framework supports disciplined self-knowledge by linking body, world, and cosmic order.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal exposition—classifying the elements and their corresponding sense faculties and presiding deities—within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader reflective and didactic passages following the war.