Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,19.1
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् यत् भक्तम् प्रथमम् आगच्छेत् तत् होमीयम् सः याम् प्रथमाम् आहुतिम् जुहुयात् ताम् जुहुयात् प्राणाय स्वाहा इति प्राणः तृप्यति
Transliteration (IAST)
tat yat bhaktam prathamam āgacchet tat homīyam saḥ yām prathamām āhutim juhuyāt tām juhuyāt prāṇāya svāhā iti prāṇaḥ tṛpyati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
यत्yatwhich; that which
भक्तम्bhaktamthe food (bhakta — 'a portion, a dish'); the dish; the helping of food
प्रथमम्prathamamthe first (prathama); first of all; as the first
आगच्छेत्āgacchetshould come (optative of ā + √gam); should arrive; should appear
तत्tatthat; this
होमीयम्homīyamfit for oblation (homīya — 'suitable for the homa'); offerable; for the libation
सःsaḥhe; that one
याम्yāmwhich; that
प्रथमाम्prathamāmthe first; the initial
आहुतिम्āhutimthe oblation (āhuti); an offering; the offering
जुहुयात्juhuyātlet him offer (optative of √hu); let him pour the libation; let him sacrifice
ताम्tāmit; that
जुहुयात्juhuyātlet him offer (optative of √hu); let him pour the libation; let him sacrifice
प्राणायprāṇāyato the prāṇa (dative of prāṇa); to the breath; to the prāṇa
स्वाहाsvāhāsvāhā; the sacrificial exclamation
इतिitithus; how
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
तृप्यतिtṛpyatiit is sated (from √tṛp — 'to be satisfied'); is satisfied; it is contented
Translation
Therefore the first food that comes to a man is fit for offering. Let him make the first oblation with the words: "To the prāṇa, svāhā!" Then the prāṇa is satisfied.
Version
80143b63dd2e · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:33:32 PM UTC
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Out of the Vaiśvānara-vidyā a practice is derived — the prāṇāgnihotra, the fire-sacrifice within one's own breath. If a man's heart, mind and mouth are the Vaiśvānara's three sacrificial fires (5.18.2), then an ordinary meal too may become an agnihotra: the first handful of food is not eating but an oblation, offered with the Vedic cry prāṇāya svāhā — "To the prāṇa, svāhā!"
So the chapter's long arc closes: the prāṇa, acknowledged king of all the powers (5.1), receives at last its regular worship — at every dinner. No new altar need be built: the table is already an altar, the mouth already an āhavanīya. Religion here attains the maturity in which it is not fenced off from life but performed by life itself: for one who eats with this cry in his heart there is no "mere food" — there is only sacrifice and its gracious remainder.