सो ऽभिमानादूर्ध्वमुत्क्रमत इव ।
तस्मिन्न् उत्क्रामत्य् अथेतरे सर्व एवोत्क्रामन्ते ।
तस्मिंश् च प्रतिष्ठमाने सर्व एव प्रातिष्ठन्ते ।
तद् यथा मक्षिका मधुकरराजानम् उत्क्रामन्तं सर्वा एवोत्क्रामन्ते ।
तस्मिंश् च प्रतिष्ठमाने सर्वा एव प्रातिष्ठन्ते ।
एवं वाङ्मनश्चक्षुःश्रोत्रं च ।
ते प्रीताः प्राणं स्तुन्वन्ति
so 'bhimānādūrdhvamutkramata iva |
tasminn utkrāmaty athetare sarva evotkrāmante |
tasmiṃś ca pratiṣṭhamāne sarva eva prātiṣṭhante |
tad yathā makṣikā madhukararājānam utkrāmantaṃ sarvā evotkrāmante |
tasmiṃś ca pratiṣṭhamāne sarvā eva prātiṣṭhante |
evaṃ vāṅmanaścakṣuḥśrotraṃ ca |
te prītāḥ prāṇaṃ stunvanti
And she, [as if] in indignation, rose up as though going out and upward. As she was going out, all the rest went out at once; when she settled, all settled again. As bees all fly out after the king of the bees when he flies out, and settle when he settles — so did speech, mind, sight and hearing. Satisfied, they praised prāṇa.
5d4cbb002671 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
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The proof took a single movement: so 'bhimānād ūrdhvam utkramata iva — "out of [wounded] dignity it as it were moved upward" — iva, "as it were": prāṇa need not depart in earnest; a stir toward the exit is enough — tasminn utkrāmati sarva evotkrāmante — "when it goes out, all go out". A faint, life halted a hair's breadth from the edge — and speech is dumb, the eye goes out, the mind darkens; it returned — and all "took their seats" again.
makṣikā madhukara-rājānam — the image of the swarm: the bees rise in one cloud after their king and alight where he alights. No single bee decides the swarm's course — and no single faculty lives a separate life of its own: their strength is a retinue about a king. So the dispute is settled without words: the chief is not the one who proclaims his contribution loudest, but the one whose departure ends all the contributions at once.
te prītāḥ prāṇaṁ stunvanti — "satisfied, they praise prāṇa": a beautiful resolution — those who have recognized the king are not humiliated but gladdened: to serve in one's own rank is rest for the servant; discord ends where the true centre has been found. The hymn they struck up (verses 21–29) is among the most ancient praises of the life-force; but the Upaniṣad has already prepared the next lesson too: this king has a King of his own (question 3 will begin from whence prāṇa itself is born).