Verse 15.14
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः | प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ||१४||
Transliteration (IAST)
ahaṁ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṁ deham āśritaḥ | prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pacāmy annaṁ catur-vidham ||14||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
Becoming the digestive fire (Vaishvanara) in the bodies of all living beings, and joined with the prāṇa and apāna breaths, I digest the four kinds of food.
Commentary
Shankaracharya identifies Vaishvanara with the jāṭharāgni (gastric fire) mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The four kinds of food are: that which is chewed (bhakṣya), swallowed (bhojya), licked (lehya), and sucked (coṣya). Ramanuja emphasizes that even the most basic biological function - digestion - depends on the Lord's presence as the inner controller. This demonstrates God's intimate involvement in every aspect of embodied existence.