Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 2.1.7
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मात् च देवाः बहुधा संप्रसूताः साध्याः मनुष्याः पशवः वयांसि ।
प्राणापानौ व्रीहियवौ तपः च श्रद्धा सत्यं ब्रह्मचर्यं विधिः च ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmāt ca devāḥ bahudhā saṃprasūtāḥ sādhyāḥ manuṣyāḥ paśavaḥ vayāṃsi |
prāṇāpānau vrīhiyavau tapaḥ ca śraddhā satyaṃ brahmacaryaṃ vidhiḥ ca ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मात् चtasmāt caand out of Him; from Him as well
देवाःdevāḥthe gods; the gods
बहुधाbahudhāin manifold ways; in many kinds
संप्रसूताःsaṃprasūtāḥare born; are brought forth
साध्याःsādhyāḥthe sādhyas (sādhya — a class of ancient celestials); the sādhya demigods; the heavenly sādhyas
मनुष्याःmanuṣyāḥpeople; human beings
पशवःpaśavaḥcattle (paśu); animals; the four-footed
वयांसिvayāṃsibirds (vayas); the feathered; the winged kind
प्राणापानौprāṇāpānauthe in-breath and the out-breath (prāṇa-apāna); the prāṇa and the apāna; the two breaths
व्रीहियवौvrīhiyavaurice and barley (vrīhi-yava); the two sacrificial grains; rice-and-barley
तपः चtapaḥ caand asceticism; and tapas
श्रद्धाśraddhāfaith; trusting attention
सत्यम्satyamtruth; truthfulness
ब्रह्मचर्यम्brahmacaryambrahmacarya; the discipline of chastity
विधिः चvidhiḥ caand the ordinance (vidhi); and the injunction; and the rule
Translation
And from Him are born in manifold ways the gods, the sādhyas, men, cattle and birds; the in-breath and the out-breath, rice and barley, austerity, faith, truth, continence and the ordinance.
Version
855d5ce9b092 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third inventory — beings and virtues, in a single row. devā bahudhā samprasūtāḥ — the gods of many ranks, sādhyāḥ — the sādhyas (an ancient order of celestials), manuṣyāḥ paśavo vayāṁsi — men, cattle, birds: the whole ladder of the embodied. Then the life of the body: prāṇāpānau — the in- and out-breath, vrīhi-yavau — rice-and-barley (the two chief sacrificial and dietary grains: daily bread). And — suddenly — the qualities: tapaś ca śraddhā satyaṁ brahmacaryaṁ vidhiś ca — austerity, faith, truth, continence, the ordinance.
The row is astonishing precisely in its mingling: birds and faith, barley and truth — in one inventory! This is no carelessness but an insight: the virtues are creations just as much as beings and grains. Faith is not "produced" by man — it is sown in him (Praśna 6.4: the Puruṣa created faith before the elements!); truth, continence, the ordinance are seeds of the Sower, not inventions of culture. That is why virtue nourishes like bread: it comes from the same Source as bread.
For one who sees this, the attitude to one's own good impulses changes: not "my achievements" but His shoots within me — the care of them remains mine, the glory is His. Thus ethics itself becomes humble — and all the firmer for it.