Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 2.1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
सप्त प्राणाः प्रभवन्ति तस्मात् सप्त अर्चिषः समिधः सप्त होमाः ।
सप्त इमे लोकाः येषु चरन्ति प्राणाः गुहाशया निहिताः सप्त सप्त ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
sapta prāṇāḥ prabhavanti tasmāt sapta arciṣaḥ samidhaḥ sapta homāḥ |
sapta ime lokāḥ yeṣu caranti prāṇāḥ guhāśayā nihitāḥ sapta sapta ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सप्त प्राणाःsapta prāṇāḥthe seven prāṇas (sapta prāṇa — the seven currents and gates of perception); the seven breaths; the seven vital currents
प्रभवन्तिprabhavantiarise; go forth
तस्मात्tasmātout of Him; from the Puruṣa
सप्त अर्चिषःsapta arciṣaḥthe seven flames; the seven rays
समिधःsamidhaḥthe fuels; the sacrificial firewood
सप्त होमाःsapta homāḥthe seven oblations (sapta homa); the seven pourings; the seven homas
सप्त इमे लोकाःsapta ime lokāḥthese seven worlds; these seven abodes
येषुyeṣuin which; among which
चरन्तिcarantimove; act
प्राणाःprāṇāḥof the prāṇa; the vital forces
गुहाशयाःguhāśayāḥresting in the secret place (guhā-śaya — 'lying in the cave'); hidden in the heart; reposing in the depth
निहिताःnihitāḥset down; placed
सप्त सप्तsapta saptaby sevens (sapta sapta); seven by seven; sevenfold seven
Translation
From Him proceed the seven prāṇas, the seven flames, [their] fuel, the seven oblations; these seven worlds in which the prāṇas move — by sevens hidden in the secret place [of the heart].
Version
4de4d049aed1 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
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The inventory closes with the sevens of the inner world: sapta prāṇāḥ — the seven prāṇas (the seven gates of the head: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth — seven currents of perception); sapta arciṣaḥ — their seven flames (the capacity of each to perceive is a fire: the eye burns towards the visible); samidhaḥ — the fuel of these fires (their objects: the visible is the firewood of sight); sapta homāḥ — the seven oblations (the acts of perception themselves are libations); sapta lokāḥ — the seven worlds in which the prāṇas move (the fields of each sense's experience).
This whole seven of sevens is guhāśayā nihitāḥ — "laid up, resting in the secret place" of the heart: the cosmic sacrificial order is folded up inside man: every moment of perception is a homa, the pouring of an object into the fire of a sense upon the altar of the heart. The Praśna (4.5 and following) unfolded this inner agnihotra in detail; the Gītā (4.26) will name it: "some offer hearing and the other senses into the fires of restraint; others sound and the other objects into the fires of the senses".
The upshot of the whole "from Him" block (verses 25–30): everything has been put forth — the elements, the body of the world, the chain of births, religion, beings, virtues, perception itself. Śaunaka's answer is almost complete: if everything is from One and in One, then one who has known Him truly "knows all". The next two verses will set the seal.