Upanishads · Praśna 2.10
॥
Devanāgarī
यदा त्वम् अभिवर्षस्य् अथेमाः प्राण ते प्रजाः ।
आनन्दरूपास् तिष्ठन्ति कामायान्नं भविष्यतीति
Transliteration (IAST)
yadā tvam abhivarṣasy athemāḥ prāṇa te prajāḥ /
ānandarūpās tiṣṭhanti kāmāyānnaṃ bhaviṣyatīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यदाyadāwhen; at the moment when
त्वम्tvamyou; it is you who
अभिवर्षसिabhivarṣasiyou pour down as rain (abhi-√vṛṣ); you send down rain; you water
अथathathen; after this
इमाःimāḥthese; the present
प्राणprāṇaO prāṇa; O life-force
ते प्रजाःte prajāḥyour creatures; your creations
आनन्दरूपाःānandarūpāḥbecome jubilation itself (ānanda-rūpa — 'joy by form'); radiant with joy; joy embodied
तिष्ठन्तिtiṣṭhantithey stand; they abide
कामायkāmāyato our fill, at will (kāmāya); for what is desired; as much as we wish
अन्नम्annamfood; food
भविष्यति इतिbhaviṣyati iti'there will be', thus; thinking 'it will come'
Translation
"When you pour down as rain, O prāṇa, these creatures of yours stand rejoicing: 'There will be food to our fill, at will!'"
Version
20811b3d3867 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The warmest verse of the hymn. yadā tvam abhivarṣasi — "when you pour down as rain": prāṇa is recognized in the rain too — the water of life descending from the sky; athemāḥ prāṇa te prajāḥ — "these creatures of yours" (te — yours: born of her and living by her) — ānanda-rūpās tiṣṭhanti — "they stand, having themselves become jubilation" (ānanda-rūpa — "having joy for their form": the joy is not in them, they are in the joy, from head to foot).
kāmāyānnaṁ bhaviṣyati — "there will be food at will!": the cry of a farmer's heart at the first drops after the heat. The Upaniṣad is not embarrassed by this simplicity: the husbandman's joy over rain is not "base" beside contemplation — it is a recognition of mercy, the most immediate religion of all: the gratitude of the fed toward the Feeder.
Rain here is the image of all grace: it comes from above, not by the ledger of merit but by the nature of the Giver — and everything alive answers in the only right way: it becomes joy. The Gītā (3.14) will set this rain into the great circle: annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ / yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ — "from food come creatures, from rain food, from sacrifice rain": gratitude that has become sacrifice itself calls down new rain.