Upanishads · Chāndogya 6,6.2
॥
Devanāgarī
एवम् एव खलु सोम्य अन्नस्य अश्यमानस्य यः अणिमा सः ऊर्ध्वः समुदीषति तत् मनः भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
evam eva khalu somya annasya aśyamānasya yaḥ aṇimā saḥ ūrdhvaḥ samudīṣati tat manaḥ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एवम्evamthus; in this way
एवevaindeed; surely
खलुkhalutruly; indeed
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
अन्नस्यannasyaof food; of food
अश्यमानस्यaśyamānasyaof what is eaten (passive participle of √aś); of what is being consumed; of what is being eaten
यःyaḥwho; the one who
अणिमाaṇimāthe subtle essence; subtlety
सःsaḥhe; that one
ऊर्ध्वःūrdhvaḥupward; the upper
समुदीषतिsamudīṣatiascends; it rises to the top
तत्tatthat; this
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
Translation
Just so, my dear, of food that is eaten the subtlest part rises upward and becomes the mind.
Version
7ebf7488ad11 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:37:31 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The transfer is made in one movement: the body is a churn, digestion a churning, the mind the butter of food. Every time a man eats, an invisible churning takes place in him, and the subtlest portion of what is eaten rises as thought.
There is in this image both the mind's dignity and its measure. Its dignity: the mind is the cream of bodily life, the most precious thing the body can produce. Its measure: it is nonetheless produced, a product — and not the owner of the churn. The Owner will be disclosed later; for now the pupil is given to see his thinking as something that can be improved by purity of food — and lost by hunger, as is about to happen.