Bhagavad Gita · 15.14 · The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality·14 of 20
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः।प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥
ahaṁ vaiśhvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṁ deham āśhritaḥ
prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pachāmy annaṁ chatur-vidham
Sanskrit recitation
The supreme person · 15.12–15.20 · Teaching
Translation
Having become the fire Vaisvanara, I abide in the bodies of living beings and, associated with the Prana and the Apana, digest the fourfold food.
Meaning
The immanence of the Lord as the gastric fire in all living beings is described in this verse.Vaisvanara The fire that abides in the stomach. This fire is fanned by the bellows of the incoming and the outgoing breaths continuously and large antities of food are digested. Inside the wonderful laboratory of the stomach I digest the food by taking the form of this gastric fire.Four kinds of food (1) Food which has to be eaten by mastication (Bhakshyam). (2) That which has to be sucked in (Bhojyam). (3) That which has to be licked (Lehyam). (4) That which has to be devoured or swallowed (Choshyam). Another classification is as follows (1) Rice is PrithiviAnnam (solid food) for human beings. (2) Water is Apyannam (watery food) for birds like the Chataka. (3) Fire is Tejasannam (hot food) for certain creatures. (4) Air is Vayvannam (air as food) for serpents.अयमग्निर्वैश्वानरो योऽयमन्तः पुरुषः येनेदमन्नं पच्यते।।
After Swami Sivananda
The supreme person· 15.12–15.20→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 15.12That light which resides in the sun, illuminating the whole world; that which is in the moon and in the fire—know that light to be Mine.
- 15.13Permeating the earth, I support all beings with My energy; and having become the watery moon, I nourish all herbs.
15.14Having become the fire Vaisvanara, I abide in the bodies of living beings and, associated with the Prana and the Apana, digest the fourfold food.
- 15.15And I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory and knowledge, as well as their absence. I am verily That which has to be known by all the Vedas; I am indeed the author of the Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
- 15.16Two Purushas there are in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable, and the Kutastha—the unchanging—is called the imperishable.
- 15.17But distinct is the Supreme Purusha, called the highest Self, indestructible and Lord, who pervades the three worlds and sustains them.
- 15.18As I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, I am declared to be the highest Purusha in the world and in the Vedas.
- 15.19He who, undeluded, knows Me as the highest Purusha, he, knowing all, worships Me with his whole being (heart), O Arjuna.
- 15.20Thus, I have imparted to you this most secret science, O sinless one; by knowing this, one becomes wise, and all their duties are accomplished, O Arjuna.
Word-by-word→
- aham
- I
- annam
- foods
- deham
- the body
- bhūtvā
- becoming
- pachāmi
- I digest
- prāṇinām
- of all living beings
- āśhritaḥ
- situated
- samāyuktaḥ
- keeping in balance
- chatuḥ-vidham
- the four kinds
- prāṇa-apāna
- outgoing and incoming breath
- vaiśhvānaraḥ
- fire of digestion
Themes
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