Shloka 20
विषयस्थ: शरीरेषु स मृत्यु: प्राणिनामिह । स च वायु: शरीरेषु प्राणापानशरीरिणाम्,वे प्राणियोंके शरीरोंमें रहनेवाले और उनके मृत्युरूप हैं तथा वे ही प्राण-अपान आदि वायुके रूपसे देहके भीतर निवास करते हैं
viṣayasthaḥ śarīreṣu sa mṛtyuḥ prāṇinām iha | sa ca vāyuḥ śarīreṣu prāṇāpānaśarīriṇām ||
Dewa Vāyu bersabda: “Bersemayam dalam tubuh makhluk bernyawa sebagai daya yang bergerak di antara objek-objek indera, Dia menjadi Kematian mereka di dunia ini. Dan prinsip yang sama itu, sebagai Vāyu di dalam jasad, tinggal dalam makhluk hidup dalam rupa prāṇa dan apāna (serta hembusan hayat yang lain).”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links sensory entanglement (viṣaya-stha) with mortality: when life is driven by sense-objects, the same inner force becomes ‘Death’ for embodied beings. It also teaches that the vital principle within the body is Vāyu functioning as prāṇa and apāna—highlighting the ethical need for restraint and right use of the senses to sustain life and dharma.
Vāyu-deva is speaking in Anuśāsana Parva, explaining the inner workings of embodied life: the presence of Vāyu within beings as the vital airs (prāṇa, apāna, etc.) and how, when bound up with sense-objects, that same force is described as taking the form of death for creatures in the world.