Shloka 20
विषयस्थ: शरीरेषु स मृत्यु: प्राणिनामिह । स च वायु: शरीरेषु प्राणापानशरीरिणाम्,वे प्राणियोंके शरीरोंमें रहनेवाले और उनके मृत्युरूप हैं तथा वे ही प्राण-अपान आदि वायुके रूपसे देहके भीतर निवास करते हैं
viṣayasthaḥ śarīreṣu sa mṛtyuḥ prāṇinām iha | sa ca vāyuḥ śarīreṣu prāṇāpānaśarīriṇām ||
Sebagai daya yang bergerak di antara objek-objek indria, Dialah yang bersemayam dalam tubuh makhluk hidup dan di dunia ini menjadi Maut bagi mereka. Dan prinsip yang sama itu, sebagai Vāyu di dalam raga, tinggal dalam diri makhluk bernyawa sebagai prāṇa, apāna, dan napas-napas hayat lainnya.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links sensory entanglement (viṣaya-stha) with mortality: when life is driven by sense-objects, the same inner force becomes ‘Death’ for embodied beings. It also teaches that the vital principle within the body is Vāyu functioning as prāṇa and apāna—highlighting the ethical need for restraint and right use of the senses to sustain life and dharma.
Vāyu-deva is speaking in Anuśāsana Parva, explaining the inner workings of embodied life: the presence of Vāyu within beings as the vital airs (prāṇa, apāna, etc.) and how, when bound up with sense-objects, that same force is described as taking the form of death for creatures in the world.