अथो अयम् वा आत्मा सर्वेषाम् भूतानाम् लोकः सः यत् जुहोति यद् यजते तेन देवानाम् लोकः अथ यद् अनुब्रूते तेन ऋषीणाम् अथ यत् पितृभ्यः निपृणाति यद् प्रजाम् इच्छते तेन पितॄणाम् अथ यत् मनुष्यान् वासयते यद् एभ्यः अशनम् ददाति तेन मनुष्याणाम् अथ यत् पशुभ्यस् तृणोदकम् विन्दति तेन पशूनाम् यद् अस्य गृहेषु श्वापदाः वयांसि आ पिपीलिकाभ्यः उपजीवन्ति तेन तेषाम् लोकः यथा ह वै स्वाय लोकाय अरिष्टिम् इच्छेत् एवम् ह एवंविदे सर्वदा सर्वाणि भूतानि अरिष्टिम् इच्छन्ति तद् वा एतद् विदितम् मीमांसितम्
atho ayam vā ātmā sarveṣām bhūtānām lokaḥ saḥ yat juhoti yad yajate tena devānām lokaḥ atha yad anubrūte tena ṛṣīṇām atha yat pitṛbhyaḥ nipṛṇāti yad prajām icchate tena pitṝṇām atha yat manuṣyān vāsayate yad ebhyaḥ aśanam dadāti tena manuṣyāṇām atha yat paśubhyas tṛṇodakam vindati tena paśūnām yad asya gṛheṣu śvāpadāḥ vayāṃsi ā pipīlikābhyaḥ upajīvanti tena teṣām lokaḥ yathā ha vai svāya lokāya ariṣṭim icchet evam ha evaṃvide sarvadā sarvāṇi bhūtāni ariṣṭim icchanti tad vā etad viditam mīmāṃsitam
And further: this ātman is the world of all beings. By oblations and sacrifice he is the world of the gods; by reciting the Veda, the world of the ṛṣis; by offerings to the fathers and by offspring, the world of the fathers; by giving lodging and food to men, the world of men; by finding grass and water for cattle, the world of cattle. And since beasts and birds, down to the ants, live in his house, he is their world too. As everyone wishes soundness for his own world, so all beings always wish soundness for one who knows this. This has been known and pondered.
0ff5a3751e18 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:45:06 AM UTC
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One of the warmest verses of the Veda: a man is defined as "the world of all beings" — a loka, a dwelling and a feeding environment for everything alive. The five great sacrifices of a householder (to gods, ṛṣis, fathers, men, creatures) are read not as duties but as a way of being a world: by pouring oblations you are heaven for the gods, by reciting the Veda an abode for the ṛṣis, by feeding a guest an earth for men, by watering the cattle a meadow for the herds; "and the ants live in his house".
And the reward is arranged as a mirror: "as everyone wishes soundness for his own world, so all beings wish soundness for the knower". He who has become a world for all is cared for by all: the prayer of ant and guest, of cow and forefather upholds him as inhabitants uphold their native land. The safety of a righteous house is not its walls but the gratitude of the universe; here is the Vedic ecology of holiness: be a dwelling, and you will have a dwelling.