Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,10.4
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ ह अग्नयः समूदीरे तप्तः ब्रह्मचारी कुशलम् नः पर्यचारीत् हन्त अस्मै प्रब्रवाम इति तस्मै ह ऊचुः प्राणः ब्रह्म कं ब्रह्म खं ब्रह्म इति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ha agnayaḥ samūdīre taptaḥ brahmacārī kuśalam naḥ paryacārīt hanta asmai prabravāma iti tasmai ha ūcuḥ prāṇaḥ brahma kaṃ brahma khaṃ brahma iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
अग्नयःagnayaḥthe [sacrificial] fires; the sacred fires; Agni
समूदीरेsamūdīrethey spoke together (sam-ud + √īr — 'to raise the voice in concert'); they conferred; they said to one another
तप्तःtaptaḥthe worn one; purified by austerity
ब्रह्मचारीbrahmacārīa brahmacārin; the ascetic student
कुशलम्kuśalamwell; diligently
नःnaḥus; to us
पर्यचारीत्paryacārīthe tended us (pari + √car); he waited upon us; he served
हन्तhantaso then; come now
अस्मैasmaifor him; to him
प्रब्रवामprabravāmalet us teach him (pra + √brū, first plural); let us tell him; let us instruct him
इतिitithus; how
तस्मैtasmaito Him; to him
हhaindeed; surely
ऊचुःūcuḥsaid; they uttered
प्राणःprāṇaḥbreath (prāṇa — the vital force); life; the prāṇa
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the Supreme; the Absolute
कंkaṃjoy (ka — 'bliss, happiness'); bliss; happiness
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the Supreme; the Absolute
खंkhaṃthe expanse (kha — 'space, ether'); space; the wide space
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the Supreme; the Absolute
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Then the fires said among themselves: "The student is worn out with austerity and has tended us diligently. Come, let us instruct him!" And they said to him: "Breath is Brahman, joy (ka) is Brahman, space (kha) is Brahman."
Version
4ade22302e25 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:21:05 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fires confer — and repeat word for word the argument of the teacher's wife: "worn out, and has tended us diligently". The service is on record; a holy thing remembers its servant. What the teacher deferred, the fires carry out themselves — not behind the guru's back, as will appear, but according to his unspoken design.
Their instruction is three sayings: prāṇo brahma, kaṁ brahma, khaṁ brahma. "Breath is Brahman": the life in every living thing is his presence. But the next two words are a riddle over which Upakosala himself will stumble: kam — "joy, bliss" and kham — "space, expanse". The fires deliberately set side by side two monosyllables that sound almost empty, so that the pupil will ask — a true teaching always leaves a gap for a question.
Secretly everything is already said here: Brahman is life, bliss and expanse — living, blissful, and containing all. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt — "he consists of bliss" (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12); the unfolding of this threefold formula will come in the next verse.