Shloka 20
Pañcahotṛ-Vidhāna and the Dispute of the Five Vāyus (पञ्चहोतृविधानम् — पञ्चवायूनां श्रेष्ठत्वविवादः)
ततः प्रालीयतोदान: पुनश्च प्रचचार ह । प्राणापानौ समाननश्च व्यानश्वैव तमब्रुवन् । उदान न व्वं श्रेष्ठो$सि व्यान एव वशे तव
tataḥ prālīyato dānaḥ punaś ca pracacāra ha | prāṇāpānau samānaś ca vyānaś caiva tam abruvan | udāna na tvaṁ śreṣṭho 'si vyāna eva vaśe tava |
Alors Udāna, s’étant retiré un instant comme s’il se dissolvait dans l’immobilité, se remit à se mouvoir. Et Prāṇa, Apāna, Samāna et Vyāna lui dirent : «Udāna, tu ne nous es pas supérieur. Seul Vyāna est sous ton pouvoir.»
(ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches humility and functional interdependence: even a powerful life-force (Udāna) cannot claim supremacy, because the organism (and by extension society) is sustained by multiple coordinated powers (Prāṇa, Apāna, Samāna, Vyāna).
Udāna briefly becomes latent and then resumes activity; the other vital breaths confront him, asserting that he is not superior to them and that only Vyāna is subject to his influence—setting up a debate on relative roles among the prāṇas.