Shloka 196
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
स्प्रष्टव्यमधिभूतं च विद्युत् तत्राधिदेवतम् । वायु दूसरा भूत है। त्वचा उसका अध्यात्म तथा स्पर्श उसका अधिभूत सुना गया है और विद्युत् उसका अधिदैवत है
spraṣṭavyam adhibhūtaṃ ca vidyut tatra adhidaivatam | vāyu dvitīyaṃ bhūtaṃ; tvacā tasya adhyātmaṃ tathā sparśaḥ tasya adhibhūtaḥ śrutaḥ, vidyut tasya adhidaivatam ||
ヴァーユ神は言った。「風の元素—粗大元素の第二—について言えば、そのアディヤートマ（adhyātma、内なる基盤）は皮膚であり、そのアディブータ（adhibhūta、外的対象領域）は触であり、それを司るアディダイヴァタ（adhidaivata）は稲妻である。かくして同一の実在が、内・外・神的統御として配当されることを知るべし。」
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a threefold mapping of experience: the inner (adhyātma: skin as the sense-organ basis), the outer (adhibhūta: touch as the objective field), and the divine regulator (adhidaiva: lightning as the presiding principle) for the air element. This framework supports disciplined self-knowledge by linking body, world, and cosmic order.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal exposition—classifying the elements and their corresponding sense faculties and presiding deities—within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader reflective and didactic passages following the war.