Upanishads · Praśna 2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अत हैनं भार्गवो वैदर्भिः पप्रच्छ ।
भगवन् कत्येव देवाः प्रजां विधारयन्ते ।
कतर एतत् प्रकाशयन्ते ।
कः पुनर् एषां वरिष्ठ इति
Transliteration (IAST)
ata hainaṃ bhārgavo vaidarbhiḥ papraccha |
bhagavan katyeva devāḥ prajāṃ vidhārayante |
katara etat prakāśayante |
kaḥ punar eṣāṃ variṣṭha iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ हatha hathen indeed; after this
एनम्enamit; to Him
भार्गवः वैदर्भिःbhārgavaḥ vaidarbhiḥBhārgava Vaidarbhi; a descendant of Bhṛgu from Vidarbha
पप्रच्छpapracchaasked; put a question
भगवन्bhagavanO venerable one; O master
कति एवkati evahow many indeed; how many then
देवाःdevāḥthe deities; of the divine powers
प्रजाम्prajāma creature; offspring
विधारयन्तेvidhārayantethey uphold (vi-√dhṛ, causative); they hold; they bear
कतरेkatarethose who; which
एतत्etatthis; it
प्रकाशयन्तेprakāśayantethey manifest (pra-√kāś, causative); they bring into manifestation; they light up
कः पुनःkaḥ punaḥwho then; who again
एषाम्eṣāmfor them; among them
वरिष्ठः इतिvariṣṭhaḥ itithe highest (superlative of vara); the best; the chief of all
Translation
Then Bhārgava Vaidarbhi asked him: "Venerable one, how many deities uphold a creature? Which of them manifest this [body]? And which among them is the highest?"
Version
25e6e7063ef7 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
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The second question narrows the focus: from the cosmos to the living body. kati eva devāḥ prajāṁ vidhārayante — "how many gods hold a creature up?" The body is seen here rightly — as a realm that is held: not an independent mechanism but a field where many powers serve (devāḥ — "the shining ones", the gods that are functions: elements and faculties). katare etat prakāśayante — "which of them manifest it?" — which powers bring life into manifestation; kaḥ punar eṣāṁ variṣṭhaḥ — "and which among them is the best?"
The third part of the question is the sharpest: the asker is not content with an inventory — he looks for a hierarchy, for the sovereign among the upholders. This is a genuinely Upaniṣadic move: behind every multitude to seek the chief, behind the servants the one who assigns them (the same question moved the Kena: "by whom is the mind sent forth?").
The answer will be the famous parable of the quarrel of the powers and of prāṇa the king (verses 18–20) and the hymn to prāṇa (21–29) — the bodily parallel to the Kena's yakṣa parable: there the powers of the cosmos came to know the Lord, here the powers of the body come to know their king. And behind the king of the body, in the questions to come, the King of that king will emerge — the Ātman, from whom prāṇa is born "as a shadow from a man" (verse 3.3).