याज्ञवल्क्येति ह उवाच कति अयम् अद्य अध्वर्युः अस्मिन् यज्ञे आहुतीः होष्यति इति तिस्रः इति कतमाः तास् तिस्रः इति याः हुताः उज्ज्वलन्ति याः हुताः अतिनेदन्ति याः हुताः अधिशेरते किं ताभिः जयति इति याः हुताः उज्ज्वलन्ति देवलोकम् एव ताभिः जयति दीप्यते इव हि देवलोकः याः हुताः अतिनेदन्ति पितृलोकम् एव ताभिः जयति अतीव हि पितृलोकः याः हुताः अधिशेरते मनुष्यलोकम् एव ताभिः जयति अधः इव हि मनुष्यलोकः
yājñavalkyeti ha uvāca kati ayam adya adhvaryuḥ asmin yajñe āhutīḥ hoṣyati iti tisraḥ iti katamāḥ tās tisraḥ iti yāḥ hutāḥ ujjvalanti yāḥ hutāḥ atinedanti yāḥ hutāḥ adhiśerate kiṃ tābhiḥ jayati iti yāḥ hutāḥ ujjvalanti devalokam eva tābhiḥ jayati dīpyate iva hi devalokaḥ yāḥ hutāḥ atinedanti pitṛlokam eva tābhiḥ jayati atīva hi pitṛlokaḥ yāḥ hutāḥ adhiśerate manuṣyalokam eva tābhiḥ jayati adhaḥ iva hi manuṣyalokaḥ
"Yājñavalkya," he said, "how many oblations will the adhvaryu offer today in this sacrifice?" — "Three." — "Which three?" — "Those which, when offered, blaze up; those which, when offered, boil over noisily; those which, when offered, sink down." — "What does he win by them?" — "By those that blaze up he wins the world of the gods, for the world of the gods as it were shines. By those that boil over he wins the world of the fathers, for the world of the fathers is as it were beyond measure. By those that sink down he wins the world of men, for the world of men is as it were below."
df3d63560b1b · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:58:45 AM UTC
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The three oblations are told apart by their behaviour in the fire: those that flare up (butter), those that boil noisily over (milk and soma), those that settle (the cakes). And each behaviour is a road: the flare leads to the shining world of the gods, the boiling over to the "excessive" world of the fathers (atīva — beyond the measure of the here), the settling to the lower world of men.
Fire turns out to be a sorter of worlds: one and the same offering goes off along three routes according to the manner of its burning. Behind this is the general law of offerings: as your gift burns, so it goes; the flare of delight, the overflow of longing for the departed, the settling care for the living — three fires of one heart, feeding the three storeys of the world.