Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,1.12
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ ह प्राणः उच्चिक्रमिषन् सः यथा सुहयः पड्वीशशङ्कून् संखिदेत् एवम् इतरान् प्राणान् समखिदत् तम् ह अभिसमेत्य ऊचुः भगवन् एधि त्वम् नः श्रेष्ठः असि मा उत्क्रमीः इति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ha prāṇaḥ uccikramiṣan saḥ yathā suhayaḥ paḍvīśaśaṅkūn saṃkhidet evam itarān prāṇān samakhidat tam ha abhisametya ūcuḥ bhagavan edhi tvam naḥ śreṣṭhaḥ asi mā utkramīḥ iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
उच्चिक्रमिषन्uccikramiṣanbeing about to go out (desiderative of ud + √kram — 'wishing to depart'); having resolved to leave; preparing to depart
सःsaḥhe; that one
यथाyathāhow; like
सुहयःsuhayaḥa good horse (su-haya — 'a fine steed'); a strong horse; a thoroughbred
पड्वीशशङ्कून्paḍvīśaśaṅkūnthe tether-pegs (paḍvīśa-śaṅku — the stakes to which a horse is tied); the hobble-stakes; the pegs of the tether
संखिदेत्saṃkhidethe tears them up (sam + √khid — 'to pluck out at once'); he pulls them out; he wrenches them free
एवम्evamthus; in this way
इतरान्itarānthe rest; other
प्राणान्prāṇānof the prāṇa; the vital breaths
समखिदत्samakhidatit tore them from their places (sam + √khid, aorist); it pulled them up; it shook them loose
तम्tamit; that one
हhaindeed; surely
अभिसमेत्यabhisametyahaving gathered about him (abhi-sam + √i); assembling round him; having come up
ऊचुःūcuḥsaid; they uttered
भगवन्bhagavanO venerable one; sir
एधिedhistay (imperative of √as — 'be'); be [with us]; remain
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
नःnaḥus; to us
श्रेष्ठःśreṣṭhaḥthe best; the most excellent
असिasiare you; you
माmānot; me
उत्क्रमीःutkramīḥdo not depart (mā utkramīḥ — prohibitive); do not go out; do not leave us
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Then the breath made ready to go out. As a fine horse pulls out all at once the pegs of his tethers, so it tore the other vital powers all at once from their places. They all came together to it: "Sir, stay! You are the best of us — do not depart!"
Version
4e3d0cbe7fea · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:25:12 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The denouement is instantaneous and magnificent. The breath needed no year of absence — it merely "made ready to go out" (uccikramiṣan — the very participle stands in a desiderative shade: it had only formed the intention), and all the powers were torn from their places at once, like pegs pulled up by a powerful horse. Speech, eye, hearing and mind do not hold in the body by themselves — they are tethered to the breath; let it stir and everything stirs.
The image of the horse and the tethering-pegs (paḍvīśa-śaṅku) is taken from nomadic life: at a halt a horse is tied to driven pegs, but a good horse, plunging, carries the whole tether away. So the difference between superiority and primacy is revealed: the four powers proved their "I am better" by departures and returns — the breath proved it by an intention. And the quarrel ends not with a father's verdict but with a common bow: "You are the best — stay, do not go." True primacy has no need to insist on itself; it is enough for it to move a step toward the door and everyone in the house understands by whom the house was held. Such is the prāṇa in the body — and such, in the universe, is He by whose breath the breath itself lives: prāṇasya prāṇaḥ (Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4.4.18).