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 ||
Disse o deus Vāyu: “Habitando nos seres corporificados como a força que se move entre os objetos dos sentidos, ele se torna a própria Morte deles neste mundo. E esse mesmo princípio, como Vāyu dentro do corpo, reside nas criaturas vivas nas formas de prāṇa e apāna (e dos demais ares vitais).”
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.