Shloka 21
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
चतुर्थमापो विज्ञेयं जिह्दा चाध्यात्ममुच्यते
caturtham āpo vijñeyaṃ jihvā cādhyātmam ucyate
ವಾಯು ದೇವರು ಹೇಳಿದರು— ನಾಲ್ಕನೆಯ ತತ್ತ್ವವು ಜಲವೆಂದು ತಿಳಿ; ಜಿಹ್ವೆಯೂ ಅಧ್ಯಾತ್ಮ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links cosmological principles (the elements) with the inner human constitution: Water is identified as the fourth element, and the tongue is classified under adhyātma—an inward, self-related framework—encouraging self-knowledge through mapping the outer world to inner faculties.
Vāyu-deva is instructing an interlocutor in a doctrinal exposition, enumerating categories: he specifies the fourth element as Water and simultaneously assigns the tongue to the adhyātma (inner) domain as part of a systematic teaching on elements and faculties.