Upanishads · Praśna 6.4
॥
Devanāgarī
स प्राणमसृजत ।
प्राणाच् छद्वां खं वायुर् ज्योतिर् आपः पृथिवीन्द्रियं मनो ऽन्नम् अन्नाद् वीर्यं तपो मन्त्राः कर्म लोका लोकेषु नाम च
Transliteration (IAST)
sa prāṇamasṛjata |
prāṇāc chadvāṃ khaṃ vāyur jyotir āpaḥ pṛthivīndriyaṃ mano 'nnam annād vīryaṃ tapo mantrāḥ karma lokā lokeṣu nāma ca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; this Puruṣa
प्राणम्prāṇamthe prāṇa; vital force
असृजतasṛjatahe created (from √sṛj — 'to emit'); He emitted; brought forth
प्राणात्prāṇātfrom the prāṇa; from the vital force
श्रद्धाम्śraddhāmfaith (śraddhā); trust [in the unseen]; the setting of the heart
खम्khamspace (kha); ether; expanse
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind; the air
ज्योतिःjyotiḥthe light; fire
आपःāpaḥthe waters; water
पृथिवीpṛthivīthe earth; the earthly element
इन्द्रियम्indriyamsense; the sense-organ
मनःmanaḥthe mind; manas
अन्नम्annamfood; food
अन्नात्annātout of food; from food
वीर्यम्vīryamstrength (vīrya); might; vigour
तपःtapaḥasceticism; spiritual heat
मन्त्राःmantrāḥthe mantras (mantra); the sacred utterances; the hymns
कर्मkarmaaction; ritual action
लोकाःlokāḥworlds; realms
लोकेषुlokeṣuin the worlds; among the abodes
नाम चnāma caand the name (nāman); and the designation; and the 'who' [of a being]
Translation
He created prāṇa; from prāṇa, faith, space, wind, light, water, earth, sense, mind, food; from food, strength, austerity, the mantras, action, the worlds — and in the worlds, name.
Version
a441515566bf · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The genealogy of the sixteen parts. First — prāṇam asṛjata — "he created prāṇa": life, the representative (verse 62). Second — astonishingly — śraddhām: faith! Before the elements, before space and light, faith is laid into the world — the capacity of creatures to trust the invisible: without it creation would be a mechanism; with it, it is a relationship. Then the descending series: kham — space, vāyu — wind, jyotis — light, āpaḥ — water, pṛthivī — earth (the five elements), indriyam — sense, manaḥ — mind, annam — food; and from food — vīryam — strength, tapas — austerity, mantrāḥ — the mantras, karma — action, lokāḥ — the worlds, and last, sixteenth — lokeṣu nāma ca — "and name in the worlds".
The series reads like the score of an incarnation: life and faith — then a world for them — then body and nourishment — then spiritual culture (strength, tapas, mantra, action) — then the worlds of recompense — and finally the name: individuality, the "who" of each creature. From prāṇa to the name: here is the complete composition of a man, sixteen kalās unfolded out of the One.
And since all of it is from Him and in Him (verse 61), the whole list is not "ours" but His unfolded presence: faith is His gift before the elements, food His own substance, the name the last of His waves. The next verse will say what happens when the waves recognize the ocean.