1 Gita Sloka Every Day - Chapter 15 - Purushottama Yoga - Sloka 14

The entire content of this mail is from Shri V N Gopala Desikan's  Srimad Bhagavad Gita, published by Vishishtadvaita Research Centre, Chennai and The Bhagavad Gita by Swami Chidbhavananda published by Ramakrishna Mission

The Immanence of the Paramatman - 13-15

1 Gita Sloka  Every Day - Chapter 15 - Purushottama Yoga - Sloka 14

Aham vaishvanarah bhutva praninam deham ashritah I

Prana apana samayuktah pachami annam chatur vidham II sloka 14

अहं वैश्वनरः भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहं  आश्रितः I 

प्राण अपाण समायुक्ताः पचमि अन्नम् चतुर विधम् II  श्लोक 14

Abiding in the body of living beings Vaisvanara, associated with Prana and Apana, I digest the four kinds of food.   

That energy is known as Vaisvanara which remains in the bodies of beings as warmth and aids the digestion of food. This energy is also called as jataragni, the gastric fire. It is tended by the breathing that is going on incessantly ( the ingoing breath called as Prana and the outgoing breath called as Apana). 

The vital air in the body has five kinds of activities in the body and is accordingly called by five different names:

1.   Prana  maintains the life in the body

2.   Vyana  maintains circulation of air in the body

3.   Apana  is the unwanted gas, which is expelled from the body, through         the anus 

4.   Samana  helps digestion of the food eaten

5.   Udana  helps in proper respiration

Food is partaken of in four different ways - masticating, sucking, licking and swallowing - based on the nature and form of food. Excluding the akasa, the other four elements earth, water, fire and air constitute the food in four different ways

There are other benign ways in which the Lord is present in beings.These are recounted in the next sloka