Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1,3.19
॥
Devanāgarī
सः अयास्यः आङ्गिरसः अङ्गानाम् हि रसः प्राणः वा अङ्गानाम् रसः प्राणः हि वा अङ्गानाम् रसः तस्मात् यस्मात् कस्मात् च अङ्गात् प्राणः उत्क्रामति तद् एव तत् शुष्यति एषः हि वा अङ्गानाम् रसः
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ ayāsyaḥ āṅgirasaḥ aṅgānām hi rasaḥ prāṇaḥ vā aṅgānām rasaḥ prāṇaḥ hi vā aṅgānām rasaḥ tasmāt yasmāt kasmāt ca aṅgāt prāṇaḥ utkrāmati tad eva tat śuṣyati eṣaḥ hi vā aṅgānām rasaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
अयास्यःayāsyaḥĀyāsya; the name of the teacher
आङ्गिरसःāṅgirasaḥAṅgiras; the descendant of Aṅgiras
अङ्गानाम्aṅgānāmthe limbs; the parts of the body
हिhiindeed; truly
रसःrasaḥthe sap; the fluid of life
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
वाvātruly; surely
अङ्गानाम्aṅgānāmthe limbs; the parts of the body
रसःrasaḥthe sap; the fluid of life
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
हिhiindeed; truly
वाvātruly; surely
अङ्गानाम्aṅgānāmthe limbs; the parts of the body
रसःrasaḥthe sap; the fluid of life
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
यस्मात्yasmātthanks to which; from what
कस्मात्kasmātout of which; whence
चcaand; as well as
अङ्गात्aṅgātfrom a limb; from a part of the body
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
उत्क्रामतिutkrāmatiit will go out (ud + √kram); issues; it goes out
तद्tadthat; this
एवevaindeed; only
तत्tatthat; this
शुष्यतिśuṣyatiit dries up (from √śuṣ); it withers; it withers
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
हिhiindeed; truly
वाvātruly; surely
अङ्गानाम्aṅgānāmthe limbs; the parts of the body
रसःrasaḥthe sap; the fluid of life
Translation
He is Ayāsya Āṅgirasa, for he is the sap of the limbs. Truly the breath is the sap of the limbs; yes, the breath is the sap of the limbs. Therefore from whatever limb the breath goes out, that limb dries up at once. Truly, it is the sap of the limbs.
Version
d2121c7f8c6d · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:40:48 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The name Āṅgirasa — aṅgānāṁ rasaḥ, "the sap of the limbs" — is repeated with the insistence of an oath: three times in a single verse. And a proof by contraries is given, familiar to everyone: whatever the prāṇa has left "dries up": a withered arm, a deadened limb — a branch abandoned by the sap.
We saw this image in the Chāndogya, with the tree and the jīva (6.11); here it is applied to the prāṇa, the jīva's representative in the body. A body lives not by its structure but by its saturation with Life, as a tree lives not by its bark but by its sap; and whatever withers in us withers always for one reason — the prāṇa has gone out of it. This is true of works, households and communities too: they dry up at the edge where they have stopped letting living service pass through them.