Shloka 32
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
यन्नैव गन्धिनो रस्यं न रूपस्पर्शशब्दवत् । मन्यन्ते मुनयो बुद्धया तत् प्रधान प्रचक्षते,जो गन्ध, रस, रूप, स्पर्श और शब्दसे युक्त नहीं है तथा मुनिलोग बुद्धिके द्वारा जिसका मनन करते हैं, वह 'प्रधान” कहलाता है
yan naiva gandhino rasyaṁ na rūpasparśaśabdavat | manyante munayo buddhyā tat pradhānaṁ pracakṣate ||
Vāyu-deva said: “That which has neither smell nor taste, and is not possessed of form, touch, or sound—yet which sages contemplate through discerning intellect—this is what they designate as Pradhāna, the primordial ground of nature.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines Pradhāna as the unmanifest primordial principle that is beyond the five sensory qualities (smell, taste, form, touch, sound) and is known not by the senses but by contemplative intellect; it points toward discernment and detachment from sense-based knowing.
Vāyu-deva is instructing by giving a philosophical definition: he contrasts sensory attributes with what sages grasp through buddhi, identifying that subtle, non-sensory basis as Pradhāna.