(3) As the Digestive-Fire in all living organisms.
Moreover,
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः ।
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥ १४ ॥
ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ .
prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham .. 14 ..
Abiding in the body of living beings as Vaiśvānara, associated* with Prana and Apana, I digest the fourfold food.
Kindled by Prana.—A.
Read the commentary
Vaiśvānara : the fire abiding in the stomach, as said in the sruti :
“This fire is Vaiśvānara, which is within man and by which this food is digested.”—(Bri. Up. 5-9-1.)
Fourfold food : the food which has to be eaten by mastication, that which has to be sucked out, the food which has to be eaten by devouring, and that which is eaten by licking.
He who regards that the eater is the Vaiśvānara Fire, that the food eaten by Fire is the Soma (moon), and that thus the two together form Fire-Soma (Agni-shoman), is free from all taint of impurity in food.†
Incidentally the Lord teaches here that he who at the time of eating contemplates that the whole universe which is in the form of eater and eaten is made up of Agni and Soma is untouched by the evil arising from bad food.—A.