Shloka 16
Abhaya-Itihāsa: Karma, Indriyas, and the Non-sensory Brahman
Brāhmaṇī–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda
तस्मिंल्लीने प्रलीयेत समानो व्यान एव च । अपानप्राणयोर्मध्ये उदानो व्याप्य तिष्ठति । तस्माच्छयान पुरुष प्राणापानौ न मुडचतः
tasmiṁl līne pralīyeta samāno vyāna eva ca | apāna-prāṇayor madhye udāno vyāpya tiṣṭhati | tasmāc chayānaṁ puruṣaṁ prāṇāpānau na muñcataḥ |
风神伐由（Vāyu）说道：“当普拉那（prāṇa）融入阿帕那（apāna）之时，萨玛那（samāna）与维亚那（vyāna）亦随之偃息而没。于阿帕那与普拉那之间，乌达那（udāna）遍满一切而安住。故而人虽沉睡，普拉那与阿帕那并不弃之而去——纵使诸根休止，生命仍赖诸气之有序协同而得以维系。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that life is maintained by an organized hierarchy of vital functions (prāṇas). Even in sleep, when outward activity quiets, prāṇa and apāna continue their sustaining work, while udāna pervades and stabilizes the system—showing an ethical-spiritual lesson of inner order and dependence on subtle supports.
Vāyu-deva explains the interrelation of the vital airs within the body: prāṇa’s absorption leads to the subsiding of samāna and vyāna, while udāna remains positioned between prāṇa and apāna, pervading all. This physiological-metaphysical account is used to clarify why the sleeping person is not deserted by life-breath.