Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
युञ्जानः प्रथमं मनस् तत्वाय सविता धियः ।
अग्नेर् ज्योतिर् निचाय्य पृथिव्या अध्य् आभरत्
Transliteration (IAST)
yuñjānaḥ prathamaṃ manas tatvāya savitā dhiyaḥ /
agner jyotir nicāyya pṛthivyā adhy ābharat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
युञ्जानःyuñjānaḥyoking; harnessing, as horses to a team
प्रथमम्prathamamfirst; as the first thing
मनःmanaḥthe mind; manas
तत्वायtatvāyafor the sake of truth; in order to reach the essence
सविताsavitāSavitṛ; the Impeller, the solar Deity
धियःdhiyaḥthe thoughts; the understandings
अग्नेःagneḥof fire; of Agni
ज्योतिःjyotiḥthe light; the radiance
निचाय्यnicāyyahaving discerned; having noticed
पृथिव्याःpṛthivyāḥfrom the earth; off the earth
अधिadhiupward; aloft
आभरत्ābharatbore it; brought it
Translation
Yoking first the mind and then the thoughts — for the sake of truth — Savitṛ, having discerned the light of fire, bore it up from the earth.
Version
1e2cdb6ad948 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The second adhyāya begins with five mantras taken from the Vedas: both the Taittirīya and the Vājasaneyi Saṁhitā know them, where they accompany the kindling of the sacrificial fire. The Upaniṣad takes the ready words of the rite and turns them inward — a habitual move for it: the outward sacrifice becomes a description of inward work.
The first word sets the theme of the whole adhyāya: yuñjānaḥ, "yoking". From the same root yuj comes the word "yoga" — not "merging" in the popular sense, but precisely "harnessing", the yoking of what runs loose. And the order is exact: first the mind, then the thoughts; first the shaft-horse, then the trace-horses.
Savitṛ is the deity of impulsion, "the Impeller"; the name is from the root sū, "to urge, to bring forth". Note that the first adhyāya called the Highest by the same term: preritṛ, "Impeller" (1.6). The Vedic Savitṛ here is no separate character but the same moving God recognised in a solar figure.
"The light of fire borne up from the earth" means, on the ritual level, simply this: the priest drew fire by friction and raised it to the altar. But after the fourteenth mantra of the first adhyāya, where the body rubs against the praṇava, the reader already knows what fire and what friction are meant. The light hidden in matter is discerned and raised — and that is the whole content of yoga, set out in the language of ritual.
And what it is done for is said in a single word: tattvāya, "for the sake of truth". Not for powers, and not for the health of which more will be said below; those come along the way.