Shloka 12
Ācāra-vidhi (Rules of Conduct) — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Catalogue
प्राणानां संनिपाताच्च संनिपात: प्रजायते । ऊष्मा चाग्निरिति ज्ञेयो योडज्न॑ं पचति देहिनाम्
bharadvāja uvāca | prāṇānāṁ sannipātāc ca sannipātaḥ prajāyate | ūṣmā cāgnir iti jñeyo yo 'nnaṁ pacati dehinām |
婆罗堕阇说道：当诸气（prāṇa）汇聚并遍行于身时，相应的会合亦随之而生。众生身中所觉之温热，当知即是火——实为消化之火——能烹煮并消化有身者所食之物。
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies bodily warmth with agni, specifically the digestive fire that processes food, and links its operation to the convergence and pervasion of the prāṇas. It teaches a disciplined understanding of the body as governed by subtle vital principles rather than by mere chance.
In a didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja explains an inner, physiological-spiritual account of embodied life: how prāṇa functions throughout the limbs and how the associated inner fire (jāṭharāgni) digests what beings eat.