Shanti Parva Adhyaya 186 Shloka 17 - Mahabharata | Thai | Vedapath

Vyasa

←Previous VerseNext Verse→

Shloka 17

Ācāra-vidhi (Rules of Conduct) — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Catalogue

Devanagari script

एवं सर्वेषु विहित: प्राणापानेषु देहिनाम्‌ । तस्मिन्‌ समिध्यते नित्यमग्नि: स्थाल्यामिवाहित:

Transliteration

evaṁ sarveṣu vihitaḥ prāṇāpāneṣu dehinām | tasmin samidhyate nityam agniḥ sthālyām ivāhitaḥ ||

Translation

ดังนี้ ในสรรพสัตว์ผู้มีร่างกาย อัคนีภายในย่อมถูกจัดวางไว้ตามการเคลื่อนไหวแห่งปราณและอปานะ และในกายนั้นย่อมลุกโพลงไม่ขาดสาย ดุจไฟที่รักษาไว้ในหม้อบนเตา

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

सर्वेषुin all

विहितःplaced, established, arranged

प्राणापानेषुin the prāṇa and apāna (vital airs)

देहिनाम्of embodied beings

तस्मिन्in that (therein)

समिध्यतेis kindled, blazes

नित्यम्always, constantly

अग्निःfire (digestive fire implied)

स्थाल्याम्in a pot, in a vessel

इवlike, as if

आहितःplaced, deposited (kept)

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja

prāṇa

apāna

agni (inner fire/jaṭharāgni)

sthālī (cooking pot)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the body’s sustaining inner fire is continuously kindled through the proper establishment and functioning of prāṇa and apāna; disciplined regulation of the vital winds supports vitality, digestion, and steadiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bharadvāja explains a physiological-yogic principle: within embodied beings, the vital breaths (prāṇa and apāna) provide the basis upon which the inner fire remains steadily alight, compared to a fire maintained in a cooking pot on a hearth.