Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,24.5
॥
Devanāgarī
यथा इह क्षुधिताः बालाः मातरम् पर्युपासते एवम् सर्वाणि भूतानि अग्निहोत्रम् उपासते
Transliteration (IAST)
yathā iha kṣudhitāḥ bālāḥ mātaram paryupāsate evam sarvāṇi bhūtāni agnihotram upāsate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथाyathāhow; like
इहihahere; in this world
क्षुधिताःkṣudhitāḥhungry (kṣudhita); famished; craving food
बालाःbālāḥchildren (bāla); infants; little children
मातरम्mātaramthe mother (mātṛ); their mother; the mother
पर्युपासतेparyupāsatethey sit around her (pari-upa + √ās — 'to sit beside'); they sit around; they sit beside
एवम्evamthus; in this way
सर्वाणिsarvāṇiall; the whole
भूतानिbhūtānithe beings (bhūta); the creatures; the living
अग्निहोत्रम्agnihotramthe agnihotra; the fire-oblation
उपासतेupāsatethey sit beside (upa + √ās); they wait upon; they worship
Translation
"As here hungry children sit round their mother, so all beings sit round the agnihotra — round the agnihotra."
Version
74c015dce69d · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth chapter's closing śloka is an image of flawless tenderness: hungry children round their mother. All beings — from the gods who feed on Soma (5.10.4) to the herbs awaiting rain — sit round the agnihotra as children at a mother's skirt: the sacrifice is a mother feeding the universe, and every oblation is a mother's dealing-out.
So the chapter that began with a quarrel of powers over primacy ends with a circle of children round one nurse. Between those two scenes its whole science has passed: the sovereignty of the prāṇa, the five fires of conception, the two paths and the fear of return, the Vaiśvānara at full height, and the meal that is a sacrifice. The sum is gathered into the last image: the world is not a field of rivalry but a family round a sacrifice; and whoever eats, offers and shares with knowledge sits no longer among disputants but among children — at the very hands of the Mother. The repetition of the last words is the seal of a completed adhyāya; the next will open with Uddālaka's voice: tat tvam asi.