Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, 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 ||
风神婆由（Vāyu）说道：“在此义中，生殖之器（upastha）被教示为内在之理——阿底耶特摩（adhyātma），能使圆满的有情众生得以出生。其对应的阿底部陀（adhibhūta，属物质现象之域）为精液（vīrya/śukra），而其主宰之神（daivata/adhidaivata）为生主波罗阇钵底（Prajāpati）。由是，创造之理乃以内在机能、物质根基与神圣统摄三者相应而明。”
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.