Upanishads · Praśna 1.5
॥
Devanāgarī
आदित्यो ह वै प्राणो रयिर् एव चन्द्रमाः ।
रयिर् वा एतत् सर्वं यन्मूर्तं चामूर्तं च ।
तस्मान् मूर्तिर् एव रयिः
Transliteration (IAST)
ādityo ha vai prāṇo rayir eva candramāḥ |
rayir vā etat sarvaṃ yanmūrtaṃ cāmūrtaṃ ca |
tasmān mūrtir eva rayiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आदित्यः ह वैādityaḥ ha vaithe sun indeed; Āditya himself
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; vital force
रयिः एवrayiḥ evarayi indeed; matter itself
चन्द्रमाःcandramāḥthe moon (candramas); the lunar orb; the lord of saps
रयिः वाrayiḥ vārayi indeed; matter indeed
एतत् सर्वम्etat sarvamall this; all this entirely
यत् मूर्तम्yat mūrtamthe formed (mūrta); what has shape; the dense
च अमूर्तम् चca amūrtam cathe formless (a-mūrta); without shape; the subtle
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
मूर्तिः एवmūrtiḥ evaform (mūrti — 'shape'); form; outline
रयिःrayiḥrayi; the material principle
Translation
"The sun indeed is prāṇa, and rayi is the moon. Rayi is all this: both the formed and the formless; therefore [all] form is rayi."
Version
b28e4927161d · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The pair unfolds into a cosmos: ādityo ha vai prāṇo rayir eva candramāḥ — "the sun is prāṇa, the moon is rayi". The correspondence is transparent: the sun is the source of heat and motion, the pulse of all life; the moon presides over saps, growth, nourishment (the Vedic view links plants and waters with her). Day quickens, night nourishes; radiation and substance, expenditure and storing — by these two beats everything alive breathes.
The second half of the verse takes an unexpected step: rayir vā etat sarvaṁ yan mūrtaṁ cāmūrtaṁ ca — "rayi is all this, the formed and the formless": the maternal principle embraces the gross and the subtle alike; tasmān mūrtir eva rayiḥ — "therefore form is rayi": whatever has an outline is moulded out of the nourishing principle. Matter here is not "filth" opposed to spirit but Prajāpati's second hand: the nurse of forms, created by him.
In this lies the dignity of the Vedic view of substance: it is neither illusion nor enemy — it is the energy of the Lord, without which prāṇa would have nothing to quicken. The error is not in matter but in forgetting its Owner; from its first verses the Upaniṣad teaches us to see in sun and moon not "objects" but two ministries of one design.