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 ||
वायुरुवाच—अत्रोपस्थोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते, यः समग्रप्राणिनां जननहेतुः। तस्याधिभूतं वीर्यं (शुक्रं) ज्ञेयम्, अधिदैवतं च प्रजापतिः। एवं अध्यात्माधिभूताधिदैवतसामञ्जस्येन सृष्टिरभिधीयते।
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.