Shloka 266
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिभूतं तथा शुक्र दैवतं च प्रजापति: । सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको उत्पन्न करनेवाला उपस्थ अध्यात्म है और वीर्य उसका अधिभूत तथा प्रजापति उसके अधिष्ठाता देवता कहे गये हैं
adhibhūtaṃ tathā śukra daivataṃ ca prajāpatiḥ | sampūrṇa-prāṇino utpanna-karakaḥ upasthaḥ adhyātmaḥ, vīryaṃ tasya adhibhūtaṃ, prajāpatiḥ tasya adhiṣṭhātā devatā ucyate ||
ヴァーユは言った。「この文脈において、生殖の器官（ウパスタ upastha）は、完全なる生きものを生み出す内なる原理、すなわちアディヤートマ（adhyātma）として説かれる。そのアディブータ（adhibhūta）の相は精液（vīrya/śukra）であり、これを司る主宰神（adhidaivata）はプラジャーパティ（Prajāpati）である。かくして創造は、内なる機能・物質の基盤・神的統御の合致によって明かされる。」
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps a reproductive function onto a threefold framework: (1) the inner principle (adhyātma) as the generative faculty (upastha), (2) the material/elemental counterpart (adhibhūta) as semen/potency (śukra/vīrya), and (3) the presiding divine regulator (daivata) as Prajāpati. It teaches that embodied processes are understood as coordinated inner function, physical substrate, and divine order.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener by classifying bodily and cosmic correspondences—specifically explaining how generation of living beings is governed through adhyātma–adhibhūta–daivata relationships, identifying Prajāpati as the deity presiding over the generative principle.