Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,16.1
॥
Devanāgarī
पुरुषः वाव यज्ञः तस्य यानि चतुर्विंशतिवर्षाणि तत् प्रातःसवनम् चतुर्विंशत्यक्षरा गायत्री गायत्रम् प्रातःसवनम् तत् अस्य वसवः अन्वायत्ताः प्राणाः वाव वसवः एते हि इदम् सर्वम् वासयन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
puruṣaḥ vāva yajñaḥ tasya yāni caturviṃśativarṣāṇi tat prātaḥsavanam caturviṃśatyakṣarā gāyatrī gāyatram prātaḥsavanam tat asya vasavaḥ anvāyattāḥ prāṇāḥ vāva vasavaḥ ete hi idam sarvam vāsayanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥman; Puruṣa
वावvāvatruly; indeed
यज्ञःyajñaḥthe sacrifice (yajña); sacrifice; the yajña
तस्यtasyait; concerning this
यानिyānithose who; those that
चतुर्विंशतिवर्षाणिcaturviṃśativarṣāṇitwenty-four years (caturviṁśati-varṣa); twenty-four years; the first twenty-four summers
तत्tatthat; this
प्रातःसवनम्prātaḥsavanamthe morning pressing of soma; the morning libation
चतुर्विंशत्यक्षराcaturviṃśatyakṣarāhaving twenty-four syllables; of twenty-four syllables
गायत्रीgāyatrīthe Gāyatrī; the gāyatrī metre itself
गायत्रम्gāyatramthe gāyatra; belonging to the Gāyatrī
प्रातःसवनम्prātaḥsavanamthe morning pressing of soma; the morning libation
तत्tatthat; this
अस्यasyaof this; it
वसवःvasavaḥVasu; the Vasu gods
अन्वायत्ताःanvāyattāḥbound up; dependent
प्राणाःprāṇāḥthe vital forces; of the prāṇa
वावvāvatruly; indeed
वसवःvasavaḥVasu; the Vasu gods
एतेetethese; the present
हिhiindeed; truly
इदम्idamthis; thus
सर्वम्sarvamall; entirely
वासयन्तिvāsayantithey cause to dwell (√vas, causative — 'they let live'); they settle; they give a dwelling
Translation
Man is indeed a sacrifice. His [first] twenty-four years are the morning pressing: the gāyatrī has twenty-four syllables, and the morning pressing is gāyatrī-wise. With it the Vasus are bound up; the prāṇas are indeed the Vasus: for they make all this dwell.
Version
4807477671c8 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:08:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The puruṣa-yajña begins — a great reinterpretation: puruṣo vāva yajñaḥ — "man is indeed a sacrifice"! Not "man performs a sacrifice" but is one: life is a liturgy the length of a lifetime, and its somas are pressed by the ages of man. The first pressing is youth: twenty-four years = the twenty-four syllables of the gāyatrī (the morning metre!): the morning of life goes in the gāyatrī measure and belongs to the Vasus; and then the identification: prāṇā vāva vasavaḥ — "the prāṇas are the Vasus": ete hīdaṁ sarvaṁ vāsayanti — "for they make all this dwell" (vas, "to dwell": the Vasus are "the Dwellers"!).
The opening of this khaṇḍa changes the whole worth of a life: you need not build an altar — you are the altar, the fire and the sacrificer: the years are oblations, the ages are savanas. For one who knows this there are no "empty years": every day lived is a ladle of soma offered in due form.