Upanishads · Praśna 4.7
॥
Devanāgarī
स यथा सोम्य वयांसि वासोवृक्षं संप्रतिष्ठन्ते ।
एवं ह वै तत् सर्वं पर आत्मनि संप्रतिष्ठते
Transliteration (IAST)
sa yathā somya vayāṃsi vāsovṛkṣaṃ saṃpratiṣṭhante |
evaṃ ha vai tat sarvaṃ para ātmani saṃpratiṣṭhate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः यथाsaḥ yathāthis is as; just as
सोम्यsomyadear one (somya — 'soma-like', an affectionate address); O gentle one; my dear
वयांसिvayāṃsibirds (vayas); the feathered; flocks of birds
वास-वृक्षम्vāsa-vṛkṣamto the dwelling-tree (vāsa-vṛkṣa — 'the tree of night-rest'); to their own tree; to the shelter-tree
संप्रतिष्ठन्तेsaṃpratiṣṭhantethey find their rest (sam-prati-√ṣṭhā); they settle in; they take their places
एवम् ह वैevam ha vaithus indeed; just so
तत् सर्वम्tat sarvamall this; all this entirely
परे आत्मनिpare ātmaniin the supreme Ātman (para ātman); in the sovereign Spirit; in the Highest
संप्रतिष्ठतेsaṃpratiṣṭhateis established; finds its rest
Translation
"As birds, dear one, flock to [their own] tree for the night, so all this finds its rest in the supreme Ātman."
Version
8e9d19eff86c · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The answer to the last sub-question ("in whom is everything established?") comes in the image of the evening flock: yathā vayāṁsi vāso-vṛkṣaṁ sampratiṣṭhante — "as birds settle upon their dwelling-tree": all day they circle about their business, but by night they all have one address. evaṁ ha vai tat sarvaṁ para ātmani sampratiṣṭhate — "so all this is established in the supreme Ātman".
Note the change of address: dreams were gathered "into the mind" (verse 43), but the mind is not the last branch: it too, with all its ray-senses and fire-prāṇas, flies further to roost — into the para ātmā, the supreme Ātman. The tree is not one of the birds: the Ātman does not enter the list of powers that find rest in Him; He is that in which they find it.
The image breathes peace and kinship: the birds fly to the tree not by command but by nature — home is there. So the powers of a creature return nightly to the Ātman because He is their native abode, not a stranger's inn. The evening pull toward sleep is creation's homesickness for its Ground, the humblest of all forms of seeking God. The next verse will unfold the list of "birds" in full — the whole census of the returning.