[17] Sometimes the word vāyu, which is more generally used in the sense of the physical air or wind, is used as a synonym for prāna.

[20][21] In the hymns, Vayu is 'described as having "exceptional beauty" and moving noisily in his shining coach, driven by two or forty-nine or one-thousand white and purple horses.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that the gods who control bodily functions once engaged in a contest to determine who among them is the greatest.

One by one the deities all took their turns leaving the body, but the man continued to live on, though successively impaired in various ways.

[24] American Indologist Philip Lutgendorf says, "According to Madhva whenever Vishnu incarnates on earth, Mukhya Prana/Vayu accompanies him and aids his work of preserving dharma.

Moreover, since the deity himself does not appear on earth until the end of kali age, the incarnate Vayu/Madhva serves during this period as the sole 'means' to bring souls to salvation".

In the Mahabharata, Bhima was the spiritual son of Vayu and played a major role in the Kurukshetra War.

In East Asian Buddhism, Vayu is a dharmapāla and often classed as one of the Twelve Devas [ja] (Japanese: 十二天, romanized: Jūniten) grouped together as directional guardians.