Upanishads · Praśna 4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणाग्नय एवैतस्मिन् पुरे जाग्रति ।
गार्हपत्यो ह वा एषो ऽपानः ।
व्यानो ऽन्वाहार्यपचनः ।
यद् गार्हपत्यात् प्रणीयते प्रणयनात् ।
आहवनीयः प्राणः
Transliteration (IAST)
prāṇāgnaya evaitasmin pure jāgrati |
gārhapatyo ha vā eṣo 'pānaḥ |
vyāno 'nvāhāryapacanaḥ |
yad gārhapatyāt praṇīyate praṇayanāt |
āhavanīyaḥ prāṇaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राणाग्नयः एवprāṇāgnayaḥ evathe fires of prāṇa indeed (prāṇa-agni); the vital fires; the fires of the breaths
एतस्मिन् पुरेetasmin purein this city; in the body-city
जाग्रतिjāgratikeep awake (from √jāgṛ); do not sleep; keep the watch
गार्हपत्यः ह वाgārhapatyaḥ ha vāgārhapatya (the household hearth — the fire kept unceasingly); the householder's fire; the hearth of the family
एषः अपानःeṣaḥ apānaḥthis apāna; the descending breath
व्यानःvyānaḥvyāna; the pervading breath
अन्वाहार्यपचनःanvāhāryapacanaḥanvāhāryapacana; the southern sacrificial fire
यत् गार्हपत्यात्yat gārhapatyātwhich from the gārhapatya; from the household fire
प्रणीयतेpraṇīyateis carried over; is led out
प्रणयनात्praṇayanātbecause of the carrying forth; since it is borne out
आहवनीयःāhavanīyaḥāhavanīya (the fire of oblation to the gods); the eastern sacrificial fire; the fire of offering
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the chief breath
Translation
"In this city the fires of prāṇa keep awake. Apāna is the [fire] gārhapatya, vyāna the anvāhāryapacana; and prāṇa is the āhavanīya, for it is taken from the gārhapatya, as the fire of oblation is taken [from the household fire]."
Version
4f8eef0365d1 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
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The answer to "what keeps awake": prāṇāgnaya evaitasmin pure jāgrati — "the fires of prāṇa keep awake in this city" (pure — the same image of the body-city as in the Kaṭha). While the master sleeps the watch does not: breath, blood-flow and warmth keep the night vigil.
And that vigil is described as a sacrifice: three breaths are matched with the three fires of the Vedic altar. apāna is gārhapatya, the household hearth kept unceasingly (the lower, sustaining fire); vyāna is anvāhāryapacana, the southern fire of offerings to the fathers (the current that binds the whole body); prāṇa is āhavanīya, the fire of oblation to the gods — and the Upaniṣad specifies why: as the āhavanīya is kindled by taking flame from the gārhapatya, so prāṇa is "taken" (praṇīyate — "carried over", whence also her name, the verse plays) from apāna in the unbroken relay of in-breath and out-breath.
The point of turning physiology into liturgy: life sacrifices always, even in sleep. The agnihotra that the pious man performs at dawn and dusk is never interrupted for an instant inside the body: a sleeper is not a "switched-off mechanism" but an altar with fires that never go out. The next verse will carry this inner sacrifice through to its priest and its fruit.