Upanishads · Aitareya 1,3.4
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् प्राणेन अजिघृक्षत् तत् न अशक्नोत् प्राणेन ग्रहीतुम् सः यत् ह एनत् प्राणेन अग्रहैष्यत् अभिप्राण्य हैव अन्नम् अत्रप्स्यत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tat prāṇena ajighṛkṣat tat na aśaknot prāṇena grahītum saḥ yat ha enat prāṇena agrahaiṣyat abhiprāṇya haiva annam atrapsyat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; it
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; with prāṇa
अजिघृक्षत्ajighṛkṣathe tried to seize; he wished to take
तत्tatthat; it
नnanot; no
अशक्नोत्aśaknothe was able; he had the power
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; with prāṇa
ग्रहीतुम्grahītumto seize; to take
सःsaḥhe; that one
यत्yatwhen; that
हhaindeed; surely
एनत्enatthis; it
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; with prāṇa
अग्रहैष्यत्agrahaiṣyatwould have seized; would have taken
अभिप्राण्यabhiprāṇyahaving breathed it in (abhi-pra-√an); having drawn it in with the breath; having inhaled it
हैवhaivaprecisely then; verily
अन्नम्annamfood; nourishment
अत्रप्स्यत्atrapsyathe would have been satisfied; he would have mastered the food
Translation
He wished to seize it with the breath — and could not seize it with the breath. If he had seized it with the breath, one would be satisfied with food merely by breathing [it] in.
Version
4941e4eadc2a · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second attempt — prāṇena: with the vital breath. And the same miss: if breath could seize food, one would be full by inhaling: abhiprāṇya haiva annam atrapsyat.
The attempt is not accidental: the prāṇa is the king of the body (the parable of the Praśna!), and it was natural to expect that life at least would command food. It does not: life needs food but does not take it: nearness to food is not yet eating; even the vital urge, hunger as such, is not assimilation. How much that lives dies with its breathing intact above food it cannot reach — the prāṇa's miss is familiar to every creature.
The parable builds a negative ladder — on the pattern of "neti neti", but in everyday terms: not by speech, not by breath… — and each refusal outlines the true function of the organ: breath is for living, not for seizing. The world is arranged by a division of services; troubles begin when an organ takes on what is not its own.