Verse 1.45

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

प्रत्यक्षं ब्रह्म हे वायो त्वमेवासीति संस्तुतिः ।
त्वामेवातो वदिष्यामि साक्षात्त्वमुपलभ्यसे ॥ ४५ ॥

pratyakṣaṃ brahma he vāyo tvamevāsīti saṃstutiḥ |
tvāmevāto vadiṣyāmi sākṣāttvamupalabhyase || 45 ||

English translation of verse 1.45:

“O Vāyu, verily thou art Brahman perceptible”—thus it has to be praised. Since you are directly perceived, I shall, therefore, declare you to be Brahman.

Notes:

The word stuti can be used in two senses, first, it can be understood in the sense of the description of the nature of an object as it is (guṇiniṣṭha guṇābhidhānam). The first line of the verse may be understood in this sense. In the subtle form Vāyu, no doubt, is remote. But it is directly present to everybody’s consciousness as individualized prāṇa or vital air. While the existence of the visual sense is to be inferred from the perception of colour, etc., that of the vital air is directly known. Prāṇa is spoken of as perceptible Brahman, since it causes the body to expand (the root bṛh means to expand).

The word stuti can also be used in another sense. The description of an object in terms of certain qualities which it does not really have is also stuti (guṇiniṣṭhatayā guṇābhidhānam). The second line of the verse may be understood in this sense. Though not the very Brahman, Vāyu is addressed as such just as the gate-keeper of a king’s palace is praised as king to get an easy admission. Prāṇa is the gate-keeper as it were of Brahman seated in the heart. The seeker of liberation who wishes to see Brahman addresses Prāṇa as Brahman with a view to praise it.