Upanishads · Kena 3.7
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ वायुम् अब्रुवन् वायव् एतद् विजानीहि किम् एतद् यक्षम् इति तथेति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
atha vāyum abruvan vāyav etad vijānīhi kim etad yakṣam iti tatheti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathen; after this
वायुम्vāyumto Vāyu; to the wind
अब्रुवन्abruvanthey said; they addressed
वायोvāyoO Vāyu (vocative); O Wind; O lord of the air
एतत्etatthis; him
विजानीहिvijānīhifind out; identify
किम्kimwhat; which
एतत्etatthis; here
यक्षम्yakṣammysterious being; wondrous apparition
इतिitithus; saying
तथाtathāso [be it]; very well
इतिitithus; having said
Translation
Then they said to Vāyu: "O Vāyu, find out what this yakṣa is." — "Very well."
Version
ca30b52fa7be · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:28:41 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second attempt — Vāyu, the wind, lord of motion and of carrying, that very Mātariśvan who in the Īśa Upaniṣad (mantra 4) "holds the waters" in the Lord. It is telling what conclusion the gods drew: from Agni's failure they inferred not "our approach is wrong" but "we sent the wrong one". Pride learns slowly: it changes the agent but not the attitude; it runs through its powers and never thinks to bow.
And again the brisk tatheti — "very well": the confidence of the second envoy has learned nothing from the experience of the first. The Upaniṣad repeats the scene almost word for word, and in that repetition one hears a liturgical inevitability: every power in the world, however many you send, will travel the same circle and come up against the same limit.