Skip to content
Live Gita
HomeExploreChatWisdomCoursesCommunityBookmarksSettings
Live Gita
HomeExploreChatWisdomCommunity
BG 15.14 — 15.14 Having become the fire Vaisvanara, I abide in the body of living beings and, associated with the Prana and the Apana, digest the fourfold food.
← Ch. 15
BG 15.14Sign in to save

अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः |
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ||१५-१४||

ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ . prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham ||15-14||


15.14 Having become the fire Vaisvanara, I abide in the body of living beings and, associated with the Prana and the Apana, digest the fourfold food.

Word-by-word meanings

15.14 अहम् I? वैश्वानरः (the fire) Vaisvanara? भूत्वा having become? प्राणिनाम् of living beings? देहम् the body? आश्रितः abiding? प्राणापानसमायुक्तः associated with Prana and Apana? पचामि (I) digest? अन्नम् food? चतुर्विधम् fourfold.Commentary 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 fo

Commentaries

Non-dualism. The individual self and Brahman are one. The world is appearance (maya). Liberation through knowledge.

Sri Shankaracharya

15.14 Bhutva, taking the form of; vaisvanarah, Vaisvanara, the fire in the stomach, mentioned in such Upanisadic texts as, 'This fire that is within man and digests the food (that is eaten) is Vaisvanara' (Br. 5.9.1); becoming that Vaisvanara, and asritah, residing in, entering; deham, the bodies; praninam, of creatures, of living beings; aham, I Myself; prana-apana-samayuktah, in association [i.e. kindled, inflamed, by Prana and Apana.] with Prana and Apana; [Prana-that vital force which goes upward and has its seat really in the heart (cf. Tai. Br. 3.10.8.5), but it said to be located at the tip of the nose since its presence is directly felt there. Apana-that vital force which goes downward, below the navel, and has its seat in the organs of excertion.-Tr.] pacami, digest; the caturvidham, four kinds of; annam, food-those that are eaten by masticating, swallowing, sucking and licking. The eater is the fire called Vaisvanara, and the eaten is the food Soma. One who looks upon all that there is as being these two, fire and Soma, is not affected by the impurity of food. Further,

(Showing excerpt)

Swami Gambirananda

15.14 Taking the form of Vaisvanara and residing in the bodies of creatures, I, in association with Prana and Apana, digest the four kinds of food.

This interpretation draws on the Advaita tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Want to explore this verse deeper?

Discuss with AI companion →
← 15.13
15.15→