Upanishads · 1.18
॥
Devanāgarī
अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान् ।
युयोध्य् अस्मज् जुहुराणम् एनो भूयिष्ठां ते नम उक्तिं विधेम
Transliteration (IAST)
agne naya supathā rāye asmān viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān |
yuyodhy asmaj juhurāṇam eno bhūyiṣṭhāṃ te nama uktiṃ vidhema
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अग्नेagneO Agni; O fire; O divine fire
नयnayalead (from √nī — 'to lead'); guide; conduct
सुपथाsupathāby the good path (su-patha — 'the good, straight road'); by the straight road; by the right way
रायेrāyeto riches; to wealth (rai — 'treasure, good'); to the true good
अस्मान्asmānus; us all; these who pray
विश्वानिviśvāniall; every kind of; without exception
देवdevaO god; O shining one; O divine one
वयुनानिvayunāniways; the marks and the knowledge of the ways; roads
विद्वान्vidvānknowing; aware of; wisely discerning
युयोधिyuyodhiremove; turn aside; keep away
अस्मत्asmatfrom us; from me; away from us
जुहुराणम्juhurāṇamcrooked (from √hvṛ — 'to go crookedly'); winding, deceitful; leading astray
एनःenaḥsin; guilt; evil
भूयिष्ठाम्bhūyiṣṭhāmthe fullest (superlative of bhūyas — 'greater'); the greatest; the most abundant
तेteto you; for you; before you
नमःnamaḥobeisance; homage; bowing down
उक्तिम्uktimutterance; word; saying
विधेमvidhemawe offer (optative of vi-√dhā — 'to render'); we raise up; let us render
Translation
O Agni, lead us by the good path to riches — you, O god, who know all the ways. Turn away from us the crookedness of sin; the fullest word of homage we offer to you.
Version
9f75b0a29412 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:17:19 PM UTC
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The last mantra is wholly a prayer, addressed to Agni, the divine fire that from time immemorial has carried offerings from man to God: agne naya supathā rāye asmān — "O Agni, lead us by the good path to riches". supathā — "the straight, good road" — is set in the mantra itself against crookedness: yuyodhy asmaj juhurāṇam enaḥ — "turn away from us the winding sin" (juhurāṇa, from √hvṛ — "to go crookedly"). Sin is seen here exactly: not so much a crime as a crookedness — the heart's swerving from the straight path, a duplicity before oneself and before the Lord. And the suppliant does not say "I shall straighten myself out": he asks the Guide, who knows all the ways (viśvāni vayunāni vidvān), to lead him out.
rāye — "to riches": the Upaniṣad that began by forbidding us to covet another's wealth ends with a petition for the true one — for that treasure which the Lord has laid up for the soul in Himself. The circle closes: kasya svid dhanam — "whose is the wealth?" — His; and it is He who gives it to the one who asks.
The final words of the book: bhūyiṣṭhāṁ te nama-uktiṁ vidhema — "the fullest word of homage we offer to you". The whole teaching — of the Lord of all, of work without fetters, of vidyā and avidyā, of the face behind the golden veil — resolves not into a formula but into a bow. namas is the gesture of a soul that has acknowledged: I am not the centre. Having begun with the word īśā, "by the Lord", the Upaniṣad ends with the word "homage"; and between these two words the whole journey of a living being finds room.