Shloka 25
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिकभ्मूतं तु गन्तव्यं विष्णुस्तत्राधिदेवतम् अब कर्मन्द्रियोंसे सम्बन्ध रखनेवाले विविध विषयोंका निरूपण किया जाता है। तत्त्वदर्शी ब्राह्मण दोनों पैरोंको अध्यात्म कहते हैं और गन्तव्य स्थानको उनके अधिभूत तथा विष्णुको उनके अधिदैवत बतलाते हैं || २४ $ ।।
avāggatir apānaḥ pṛṣṭhaḥ pāyur adhyātmam ucyate
风神伐由说道：“身中向下运行之道——名为阿般那（apāna）的生命气流——并连同背部与肛门，被称为阿底耶特摩（adhyātma），即身心内在之基。”在此教说中，身体的诸种作用被纳入更宏大的意义体系，使人明白内在的修持与正知如何与宇宙秩序相应。
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies specific bodily functions and organs (the downward movement, apāna, the back, and the anus) as ‘adhyātma’—the inner, embodied aspect—within a larger interpretive system that links the individual body to broader metaphysical categories.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a technical, contemplative classification: explaining how elements of the human body and vital energies are to be understood as part of an adhyātma (inner) framework, preparing the ground for correlating them with adhibhūta (outer/elemental) and adhidaiva (divine) correspondences mentioned in the surrounding passage.