अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)
देवासुरमुनीनां तु यच्च गुहां सनातनम् । गुहायां निहितं ब्रह्म दुर्विज्ञेयं मुनेरपि
devāsuramunīnāṁ tu yac ca guhāṁ sanātanam | guhāyāṁ nihitaṁ brahma durvijñeyaṁ muner api ||
ヴァーユは言った。「神々もアスラも牟尼たちも、真に踏み入れて見極めることのできぬ永遠の『洞窟』がある。心の洞窟に秘められたブラフマンは、観想する聖仙にとってさえ知り難い。まさにそれこそが主である。主は万有を生み出す神聖なる根源であり、十方に面を持ち、万物の自己として、遍く見、遍く満ち、遍く知る。」
वायुदेव उवाच
The verse teaches that the highest reality (Brahman/Īśvara) is inwardly present—hidden in the ‘cave’ of the heart—and is not easily grasped even by exalted beings or learned sages. True knowledge is therefore not merely intellectual; it requires inner realization of the all-pervading, all-seeing Self who is the source of creation.
Vāyu is speaking in a didactic context, identifying the supreme Lord through a traditional image: Brahman concealed in the heart-cave. He emphasizes the Lord’s cosmic attributes—creator, facing all directions, universal Self, omniscient and omnipresent—thereby guiding the listener from external notions of divinity to an inward, ethical-spiritual focus on realization.