Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 1.1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
तपसा चीयते ब्रह्म ततः अन्नम् अभिजायते ।
अन्नात् प्राणः मनः सत्यं लोकाः कर्मसु च अमृतम् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
tapasā cīyate brahma tataḥ annam abhijāyate |
annāt prāṇaḥ manaḥ satyaṃ lokāḥ karmasu ca amṛtam ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तपसाtapasāby tapas; by spiritual heat
चीयतेcīyategrows, is built up (from √ci — 'to pile up'); is laid up [like an altar]; is condensed into manifestation
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the sacred reality
ततःtataḥout of it; after this
अन्नम्annamfood; the substance of nourishment
अभिजायतेabhijāyateis born (abhi-√jan); arises; comes about
अन्नात्annātout of food; from nourishment
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; vital force
मनःmanaḥthe mind; manas
सत्यम्satyamtruth (satya); truth-as-order; the actual
लोकाःlokāḥworlds; realms
कर्मसुkarmasuin actions; in ritual works
चcaand; as well as
अमृतम्amṛtamthe immortal (a-mṛta); the imperishable [fruit]; amṛta
Translation
By austerity Brahman grows; from it food is born, from food breath, mind, truth, the worlds — and in deeds the immortal.
Version
5dfede61c5c0 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The ladder of emanation. tapasā cīyate brahma — "by tapas Brahman is built up": creation unfolds through a concentrated heat of will (√ci — "to pile up", as an altar is laid): Brahman "thickens" into manifestation by His own austerity — the same word with which the Praśna described the creating Prajāpati. Then the steps: annam — food, the primal substance, the nourishing base (the rayi of the Praśna); out of it prāṇaḥ — life; manaḥ — mind; satyam — truth (the order that makes the world a cosmos and not a chaos); lokāḥ — the worlds; and the conclusion: karmasu cāmṛtam — "and in deeds the immortal": the imperishable fruit that ripens in works performed according to truth.
The series reads downward as a cosmogony and upward as a programme for man: one who lives in the worlds and acts can, through truth, mind and life, ascend to Him by whose tapas all is unfolded; the ladder of emanation and the ladder of return are one.
The end of the series is especially precious: the immortal is "in deeds" (karmasu). The Muṇḍaka, which will soon set stern limits to karma (1.2.7), balances itself here in advance: a deed built into the ladder of Brahman — out of truth, by mind, through life — carries amṛta within it. What will be condemned is not the deed, but the deed torn away from the Ladder.