Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,7.1
॥
Devanāgarī
पुरुषः वाव गौतम अग्निः तस्य वाक् एव समित् प्राणः धूमः जिह्वा अर्चिः चक्षुः अङ्गाराः श्रोत्रम् विस्फुलिङ्गाः
Transliteration (IAST)
puruṣaḥ vāva gautama agniḥ tasya vāk eva samit prāṇaḥ dhūmaḥ jihvā arciḥ cakṣuḥ aṅgārāḥ śrotram visphuliṅgāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥman (puruṣa); the male; man as the altar
वावvāvatruly; indeed
गौतमgautamaO Gautama; Gautama
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
तस्यtasyait; concerning this
वाक्vākspeech; the word
एवevaindeed; surely
समित्samitfuel; the log
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
धूमःdhūmaḥsmoke; the smoke-form
जिह्वाjihvāthe tongue (jihvā); the tongue in the mouth; the organ of taste and speech
अर्चिःarciḥflame; the radiance
चक्षुःcakṣuḥthe eye; sight
अङ्गाराःaṅgārāḥthe coals; the glowing coals
श्रोत्रम्śrotramthe ear; hearing
विस्फुलिङ्गाःvisphuliṅgāḥthe sparks; the flashes of fire
Translation
"Man, Gautama, is a fire. Speech is its fuel, breath its smoke, the tongue its flame, the eye its embers, hearing its sparks.
Version
fa5eb0523c56 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:29:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth altar is man himself (puruṣa). His fuel is speech: the human fire burns with the word; by it a man is stoked and kindled; breath is the smoke rising from that burning; the tongue is the flame; the eye is the embers that keep the heat; hearing is the sparks, the echoes at the edges.
Man is taken here as an altar, not as a sacrificer: in him the gods perform the fourth oblation — food — and out of it is born seed, the substance of the next life. This is a sobering view of bodily life: the body is neither property nor an end in itself but a working altar in others' — in God's — hands. To hallow this altar with conscious service or to let it burn to no purpose — that is the choice the Upaniṣad sets before each of us.