Shloka 11
Skanda-janma: Śivā/Svāhā, Agni, and the Manifestation of Guha
Mahābhārata 3.214
प्राणानां संनिपातात् तु संनिपात: प्रजायते । ऊष्मा चाग्निरिति ज्ञेयो योडन्न॑ं पचति देहिनाम्,प्राण आदि वायुओंके परस्पर मिलनेसे एक संघर्ष उत्पन्न होता है, उससे प्रकट होनेवाले उत्तापको ही जठरानल समझना चाहिये। वही देहधारियोंके खाये हुए अन्नको पचाता है
prāṇānāṃ sannipātāt tu sannipātaḥ prajāyate | ūṣmā cāgnir iti jñeyo yo 'nnaṃ pacati dehinām ||
From the mutual convergence of the vital breaths (prāṇas) there arises an internal ‘collision’ or interaction; the heat that manifests from it should be understood as the bodily fire. That very heat—known as the gastric fire—digests the food eaten by embodied beings. The teaching frames digestion not as mere appetite but as a lawful, impersonal function of life-forces, inviting reverence for the body’s order and restraint in consumption.
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
Digestion is explained as the lawful outcome of the interaction of the vital breaths: their conjunction generates heat, and that heat is the ‘fire’ that digests food. Ethically, it encourages mindful eating and respect for the body’s natural order rather than indulgence.
The Vyādha is instructing his listener in practical dharma through a physiological example, explaining how prāṇa-functions produce the inner heat called digestive fire, which processes the food of embodied beings.