तस्य क्व मूलम् स्यात् अन्यत्र अन्नात् एवम् एव खलु सोम्य अन्नेन शुङ्गेन आपः मूलम् अन्विच्छ अद्भिः सोम्य शुङ्गेन तेजः मूलम् अन्विच्छ तेजसा सोम्य शुङ्गेन सत् मूलम् अन्विच्छ सन्मूलाः सोम्य इमाः सर्वाः प्रजाः सदायतनाः सत्प्रतिष्ठाः
tasya kva mūlam syāt anyatra annāt evam eva khalu somya annena śuṅgena āpaḥ mūlam anviccha adbhiḥ somya śuṅgena tejaḥ mūlam anviccha tejasā somya śuṅgena sat mūlam anviccha sanmūlāḥ somya imāḥ sarvāḥ prajāḥ sadāyatanāḥ satpratiṣṭhāḥ
And where is its root, if not in food? Just so, my dear: food is a shoot, seek its root in the waters; the waters are a shoot, seek their root in heat; heat is a shoot, seek its root in Being. All these creatures, my dear, are rooted in Being, they rest in Being, they are established on Being.
1d337cc1dbe1 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:39:08 PM UTC
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The search for the root is accomplished in one breath: the body is a shoot of food, food a shoot of the waters, the waters a shoot of heat, heat a shoot of Being. Four steps, and the ladder of creation (6.2) is climbed in reverse, from dinner to God. The command mūlam anviccha — "seek the root!" — is repeated three times: this is not a contemplative mood but a method, a labour, a digging down.
And then the solemn conclusion, one of the great verses of the Veda: san-mūlāḥ somyemāḥ sarvāḥ prajāḥ sad-āyatanāḥ sat-pratiṣṭhāḥ — "all creatures are rooted in Being, they dwell in Being, they are established on Being". Three words — mūla, āyatana, pratiṣṭhā: root, home, support; origin, abiding, stability — all three from Him, in Him and on Him. The Gītā says the same in the first person: "I am the source of all, from Me everything proceeds" (BG 10.8); "on Me all this is strung like pearls on a thread" (BG 7.7). For one who sees so, hunger is a reminder of the root, and every dinner a touching of Being by the long handle of food.