Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,2.2
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राणः वै ग्रहः सः अपानेनातिग्रहेण गृहीतः प्राणेन हि गन्धान् जिघ्रति
Transliteration (IAST)
prāṇaḥ vai grahaḥ saḥ apānenātigraheṇa gṛhītaḥ prāṇena hi gandhān jighrati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
वैvaitruly; indeed
ग्रहःgrahaḥthe grasper (graha); the seizer; the grasper
सःsaḥhe; that one
अपानेनातिग्रहेणapānenātigraheṇaby the apāna as over-grasper; by the descending breath as seizer
गृहीतःgṛhītaḥis grasped (gṛhīta); is seized; is grasped
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; by the vital breath
हिhiindeed; truly
गन्धान्gandhānthe odours (gandha, acc. pl.); odours; odours
जिघ्रतिjighratithey smell (from √ghrā); they sniff; they smell
Translation
"The breath-of-smelling is a grasper; it is grasped by smell as the over-grasper: for by the breath one smells odours.
Version
6289e0c10bdb · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:59:58 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first pair: smell is the grasper, odour its over-grasper. The order of the captivity is astonishing: it is not the odour that is caught by the nose — the nose is caught by the odour! An organ exists for the sake of its object and is therefore the object's prisoner: smelling is chained to the world of scents by its very nature.
So it will be with all eight: every grip of ours is itself gripped by what it grips. This is the anatomy of attachment, given millennia before any psychology: it is not a man who holds his experience — experience holds the man, by each of the senses, as by eight reins.