Shloka 12
Ācāra-vidhi (Rules of Conduct) — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Catalogue
प्राणानां संनिपाताच्च संनिपात: प्रजायते । ऊष्मा चाग्निरिति ज्ञेयो योडज्न॑ं पचति देहिनाम्
bharadvāja uvāca | prāṇānāṁ sannipātāc ca sannipātaḥ prajāyate | ūṣmā cāgnir iti jñeyo yo 'nnaṁ pacati dehinām |
Bharadvāja dit : Lorsque les souffles vitaux convergent et se répandent dans le corps, une convergence correspondante se produit. La chaleur ressentie chez les êtres vivants doit être comprise comme du feu—le feu digestif—qui « cuit » et digère la nourriture prise par les incarnés.
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies bodily warmth with agni, specifically the digestive fire that processes food, and links its operation to the convergence and pervasion of the prāṇas. It teaches a disciplined understanding of the body as governed by subtle vital principles rather than by mere chance.
In a didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja explains an inner, physiological-spiritual account of embodied life: how prāṇa functions throughout the limbs and how the associated inner fire (jāṭharāgni) digests what beings eat.