Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 31
अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)
देहकृद् देहभद् देही देहभुगदेहिनां गति: । प्राणकृत् प्राणभृत् प्राणी प्राणद: प्राणिनां गति:
dehakṛd dehabhṛd dehī dehabhug dehināṃ gatiḥ | prāṇakṛd prāṇabhṛt prāṇī prāṇadaḥ prāṇināṃ gatiḥ ||
आप देह के कर्ता, देह के धारक—इसलिए देही—हैं; देह के भोक्ता और देहधारियों की परम गति हैं। आप ही प्राणों के उत्पादक, प्राणों के धारक, प्राणी-स्वरूप, प्राणदाता तथा समस्त प्राणियों की गति हैं।
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the supreme principle as the source, sustainer, and goal of embodied existence: it fashions and upholds the body, animates it through prāṇa, enables experience, and ultimately serves as the highest refuge (gati) for all beings.
Vāyu-deva is offering a hymn of praise, describing the addressed deity/principle in comprehensive terms—body, life-breath, living beings, and their final destination—thereby affirming divine immanence (within life) and transcendence (as the ultimate goal).