Shloka 213
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिभूतं रसश्चात्र सोमस्तत्राधिदेवतम् । जलको चौथा भूत समझना चाहिये। रसना उसका अध्यात्म, रस उसका अधिभूत और चन्द्रमा उसका अधिदैवत कहा जाता है
vāyudeva uvāca | adhibhūtaṃ rasaś cātra somas tatrādhidaivatam | jalakaś caturthaṃ bhūtaṃ samajñeyaḥ | rasanā tasya adhyātmaṃ, rasaḥ adhibhūtaḥ, candramāḥ tasya adhidaivataṃ ucyate |
वायुरुवाच—अधिभूतं रसश्चात्र, सोमस्तत्राधिदेवतम्। जलं चतुर्थं भूतं ज्ञेयम्; रसना तस्याध्यात्मं, रसस्तस्याधिभूतं, सोमश्चन्द्रमास्तस्याधिदैवतं प्रकीर्तितः।
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse maps experience into a threefold framework: the inner basis (adhyātma: the tongue), the objective field (adhibhūta: taste), and the presiding divine principle (adhidaivata: Soma/Chandra). It teaches disciplined understanding of perception as structured and governed, supporting self-knowledge and ethical restraint.
Vāyu is instructing the listener in a philosophical classification of the senses and elements, explaining how the organ of taste, its object, and its deity correspond—part of a broader teaching on the constitution of embodied life and the principles that regulate it.