Shloka 186

Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā

Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties

Devanagari script

अधिभूतं तथा शब्दो दिशस्तत्राधिदैवतम्‌ । अब समस्त ज्ञानेन्द्रियोंके भूत

Transliteration

adhibhūtaṃ tathā śabdo diśas tatrādhidaivatam |

Translation

Vāyu-deva déclara : « En ce contexte, le son est l’adhibhūta (l’aspect objectif, élémentaire), et les directions sont l’adhidaivata (le principe divin présidant). » L’enseignement poursuit en établissant, pour chaque sens, son champ : pour l’espace (ākāśa), l’oreille est l’adhyātma (le fondement intérieur) ; le son en est l’adhibhūta (l’objet extérieur) ; et les directions sont la divinité qui régit et ordonne ce domaine (adhidaivata).

Word by Word

• अधिभूतम्: the adhibhūta (pertaining to elements/objects)
• अधिभूतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधिभूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: and/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• शब्दः: sound
• शब्दः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शब्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दिशः: the directions
• दिशः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिश् (प्रातिपदिक: दिशा)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• तत्र: there/in that context
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• अधिदैवतम्: the adhidaivata (presiding deity aspect)
• अधिदैवतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधिदैवत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyu-deva)
• शब्द (sound)
• दिशा (the directions)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

It teaches a triadic analysis of experience: the inner faculty (adhyātma), its external object-field (adhibhūta), and the presiding divine order (adhidaivata). For hearing, sound is the object and the directions are the governing principle, encouraging discernment between self, objects, and the cosmic order that regulates them.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is explaining a systematic enumeration of the senses and their corresponding objects and deities. This verse states the specific correspondences for the auditory domain: sound as the object (adhibhūta) and the directions as the presiding deity (adhidaivata), within a broader instructional discourse.