Shloka 226
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिभूतं तथा गन्धो वायुस्तत्राधिदैवतम् । पृथ्वी पाँचवाँ भूत है। नासिका उसका अध्यात्म, गन्ध उसका अधिभूत और वायु उसका अधिदैवत कहा जाता है
adhibhūtaṁ tathā gandho vāyus tatrādhidaivatam |
Dijo Vāyu-deva: «En este contexto, la fragancia es declarada adhibhūta (el objeto grosero y elemental), y Vāyu (el Viento) es allí el adhidaivata (la deidad que preside).» La enseñanza sitúa el olfato en la tríada de base interior, objeto externo y regulador divino, guiando al oyente a ver la percepción como un orden conforme al dharma y no como mero deleite. Así, para el elemento tierra—el quinto—la nariz es el adhyātma; la fragancia es el adhibhūta; y Vāyu es llamado su adhidaivata.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
It maps perception into a threefold framework: the external object (adhibhūta: smell/fragrance), the divine regulator (adhidaivata: Vāyu), and implicitly the inner faculty (adhyātma, understood here as the nose/smell-sense). This encourages disciplined awareness and sense-restraint by recognizing a cosmic order behind sensory experience.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal exposition on the elements and senses, specifying which external object and which presiding deity correspond to the domain of smell.