Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 31
अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)
देहकृद् देहभद् देही देहभुगदेहिनां गति: । प्राणकृत् प्राणभृत् प्राणी प्राणद: प्राणिनां गति:
dehakṛd dehabhṛd dehī dehabhug dehināṃ gatiḥ | prāṇakṛd prāṇabhṛt prāṇī prāṇadaḥ prāṇināṃ gatiḥ ||
Wika ni Vāyu-deva: “Ikaw ang lumilikha ng mga katawan at ang nagpapanatili sa mga katawan; kaya Ikaw ay tinatawag na Sariling may katawan. Ikaw ang tumatamasa sa katawan at ang sukdulang hantungan ng lahat ng may katawan. Ikaw ang pinagmumulan ng prāṇa (hininga ng buhay), ang tagapagdala ng buhay, ang mismong simulain ng pag-iral, ang nagbibigay-buhay, at ang huling kanlungan at layon ng lahat ng nilalang.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the supreme principle as the source, sustainer, and goal of embodied existence: it fashions and upholds the body, animates it through prāṇa, enables experience, and ultimately serves as the highest refuge (gati) for all beings.
Vāyu-deva is offering a hymn of praise, describing the addressed deity/principle in comprehensive terms—body, life-breath, living beings, and their final destination—thereby affirming divine immanence (within life) and transcendence (as the ultimate goal).