Bhagavad Gita 15.14
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 14 of 20
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहम् आश्रितः । प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्य् अन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥
ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ deham āśritaḥ | prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pacāmy annaṃ catur-vidham ||
I am Vaiśvānara — the digestive fire in every living body — digesting all four kinds of food with prāṇa and apāna.
Word by word (3)
- ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ deham āśritaḥ
- — I, having become Vaiśvānara (the digestive/universal fire), residing in (āśritaḥ) the bodies (deham) of breathing creatures (prāṇinām) — the jāṭharāgni as Krishna's form
- prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ
- — joined/united (samāyuktaḥ) with prāṇa (upward breath) and apāna (downward breath) — the two primary prāṇic forces that support digestion
- pacāmy annaṃ catur-vidham
- — I digest (pacāmi) the four kinds of food (annaṃ catur-vidham): chewed, swallowed, sucked, and licked — all digestion is His activity
Having become Vaiśvānara (the digestive fire), I abide in the bodies of all breathing creatures. United with the upward and downward life-breaths, I digest the fourfold food.
A modern analogy
The kitchen stove does not cook; the fire does. And the fire in your body's 'kitchen' (the digestive system) — the jāṭharāgni — is the same Agni that blazes in ritual fires and in the sun. When you eat, it is not merely chemistry — it is Krishna as Vaiśvānara doing the sacred work of transformation.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Abiding in the body of living beings as Vaisvanara, associated with Prana and Apana, I digest the fourfold food. [1]
Abiding in the body of living beings as the fire Vaishvanara, I, associated with Prana and Apana, digest the fourfold food. [4]
Having become the fire Vaishvanara, and entered the bodies of creatures that breathe, I, joined with the upward and downward life-breaths, digest the four varieties of food. [9]
Myself becoming the vital heat Vaiswanara residing in the bodies of creatures that breathe, and uniting with the upward and the downward life-breaths, I digest the four kinds of food. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sitting still while the mind craves sense-objects is not discipline — the Gita calls it hypocrisy.
If You think me capable of seeing it, O Lord of Yogins — show me Your imperishable, all-pervading Self.
Paramātmā: beginningless, nirguṇa, imperishable — dwelling in the body, yet neither acts nor is tainted.
The deluded see only the body's states — birth, life, experience; the jñāna-eyed see the jīva behind all three.
The ego-apex: 'I am rich, well-born — who equals me? I'll sacrifice, give, rejoice.' — all deluded by ajñāna.
Self-complacent, stubborn, wealth-proud — they perform name-only sacrifices, ostentatiously ignoring śāstric ordinance.
Verse 14 of 20 · back to Chapter 15