Shloka 33
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
स्थलमापस्तथा55काशं जन्म चापि चतुर्विधम् | अण्डजोद्धिज्जसंस्वेदजरायुजमथापि च
sthalam āpas tathākāśaṃ janma cāpi caturvidham | aṇḍajodbhijja-saṃsvedaja-rāyujam athāpi ca ||
Vāyu-deva déclara : «Il est des domaines de la terre, de l’eau et de l’espace ; et la naissance est aussi de quatre sortes : ceux qui naissent de l’œuf, ceux qui germent de la terre, ceux qui naissent de la sueur ou de l’humidité, et ceux qui naissent du sein maternel.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
That living beings can be understood within an ordered scheme: they inhabit elemental realms (earth, water, space) and arise through four traditional modes of birth (egg-born, sprout-born, moisture-born, womb-born), highlighting unity-in-diversity in creation.
Vāyu-deva is speaking and presents a doctrinal classification of the world—naming basic realms/elements and enumerating the fourfold typology of birth—within a broader instructive discourse in the Ashvamedhika Parva.