तम् अभ्यतपत् तस्य अभितप्तस्य मुखम् निरभिद्यत यथा अण्डम् मुखात् वाक् वाचः अग्निः नासिके निरभिद्येताम् नासिकाभ्याम् प्राणः प्राणात् वायुः अक्षिणी निरभिद्येताम् अक्षीभ्याम् चक्षुः चक्षुषः आदित्यः कर्णौ निरभिद्येताम् कर्णाभ्याम् श्रोत्रम् श्रोत्रात् दिशः त्वक् निरभिद्यत त्वचः लोमानि लोमभ्यः ओषधिवनस्पतयः हृदयम् निरभिद्यत हृदयात् मनः मनसः चन्द्रमाः नाभिः निरभिद्यत नाभ्याः अपानः अपानात् मृत्युः शिश्नम् निरभिद्यत शिश्नात् रेतः रेतसः आपः
tam abhyatapat tasya abhitaptasya mukham nirabhidyata yathā aṇḍam mukhāt vāk vācaḥ agniḥ nāsike nirabhidyetām nāsikābhyām prāṇaḥ prāṇāt vāyuḥ akṣiṇī nirabhidyetām akṣībhyām cakṣuḥ cakṣuṣaḥ ādityaḥ karṇau nirabhidyetām karṇābhyām śrotram śrotrāt diśaḥ tvak nirabhidyata tvacaḥ lomāni lomabhyaḥ oṣadhivanaspatayaḥ hṛdayam nirabhidyata hṛdayāt manaḥ manasaḥ candramāḥ nābhiḥ nirabhidyata nābhyāḥ apānaḥ apānāt mṛtyuḥ śiśnam nirabhidyata śiśnāt retaḥ retasaḥ āpaḥ
He warmed him [with His gaze]. In the one thus warmed the mouth burst open, like an egg: from the mouth, speech; from speech, Fire. The nostrils burst open: from the nostrils, breath; from breath, Wind. The eyes burst open: from the eyes, sight; from sight, the Sun. The ears burst open: from the ears, hearing; from hearing, the Quarters of the sky. The skin burst open: from the skin, hairs; from the hairs, herbs and trees. The heart burst open: from the heart, mind; from mind, the Moon. The navel burst open: from the navel, apāna; from apāna, Death. The generative organ burst open: from it, seed; from seed, the Waters.
88e26c301643 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
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The great scene of the "hatching" of man: tam abhyatapat — "He warmed him" — with the tapas of His gaze, as a bird warms an egg; and yathāṇḍam — "like an egg" — the form cracked open: eight burstings, and out of each a threefold issue: organ → faculty → deity. Mouth → speech → Agni; nostrils → breath → Vāyu; eyes → sight → Āditya; ears → hearing → the Quarters; skin → hairs → plants; heart → mind → the Moon; navel → apāna → Death; loins → seed → the Waters.
The direction is astonishing: the gods are born OUT OF man! It was not the sun that made the eye — out of the first man's sight the sun came forth: the faculties of the Puruṣa, unfolded outwards, became the cosmic rulers. The world is a man turned inside out; man is a world folded inward: that very correspondence of "adhyātma and adhidaivata" which all the Upaniṣads employ (the Praśna: the sun is the prāṇa of the eye!) the Aitareya grounds genetically: they are kin because they were born out of one another.
And death is honestly written in: from the navel, apāna; from apāna, mṛtyuḥ: Death too is a child of the Puruṣa, the deity of the eliminating, releasing function: it is built into the organism of creation as its lawful organ, not as an enemy from outside. The eightfold anthropology is complete; but these gods are as yet homeless — the next scene will cast them into an ocean of hunger.