Upanishads · Kauṣītaki 2.10
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ संवेशञ्जायायै हृदयमभिमृशेद्यत्ते सुसीमे हृदये हितमन्तः प्रजापतौ मन्येऽहं मां तद्विद्वांसं तेन माहं पौत्रमघं रुदमिति न हास्मत्पूर्वाः प्रजाः प्रैतीति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha saṃveśañjāyāyai hṛdayamabhimṛśedyatte susīme hṛdaye hitamantaḥ prajāpatau manye'haṃ māṃ tadvidvāṃsaṃ tena māhaṃ pautramaghaṃ rudamiti na hāsmatpūrvāḥ prajāḥ praitīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ संवेशन्atha saṃveśanthen, going to bed; next, retiring to sleep
जायायै हृदयम् अभिमृशेत्jāyāyai hṛdayam abhimṛśetlet him touch the heart of his wife; let him lay a hand on her heart
यत् ते सुसीमे हृदये हितम्yat te susīme hṛdaye hitam“what is placed in thy fair heart”; “that which is hidden in thy heart”
अन्तः प्रजापतौantaḥ prajāpatau“within, in Prajāpati”; “in the deep, with the Lord of creatures”
मन्ये अहम् माम् तद्विद्वांसम्manye aham mām tadvidvāṃsam“I deem myself knowing it”; “I hold that I know it”
तेन मा अहम् पौत्रम् अघम्tena mā aham pautram agham“may I not weep woe for children”; “let me not wail over my offspring's calamity”
रुदम् इतिrudam iti“weeping”; “in tears”
न ह अस्मत् पूर्वाःna ha asmat pūrvāḥand not before him; and not earlier than he
प्रजाः प्रैतिprajāḥ praitido the children depart; does the progeny pass away
Translation
Then, going to bed, let him touch the heart of his wife: “What is placed in thy fair heart, within, in Prajāpati — I deem myself knowing it; may I therefore never weep woe for my children.” And his children do not depart before him.
Version
4351dd568535 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:43:45 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The shortest rite in the book and perhaps the quietest: before sleep the husband lays his hand on his wife's heart and speaks a few words.
The touch's meaning is set by the words: “what is placed in thy heart, within, in Prajāpati”. The speech is addressed neither to the wife nor to her feeling, but to what has been laid in her heart by the Lord of creatures — to the very power of bearing and keeping life. The heart is named the place where this lies; and the heart is what is touched.
“I deem myself knowing it”, manye ahaṃ mām tad-vidvāṃsam — a restrained phrase: not “I know”, but “I hold that I know”. The petitioner does not claim fullness of knowledge; he states only that he knows where to look — and on that ground asks.
The petition is the same as in the new-moon rite: “may I not weep woe for my children”. It is repeated deliberately. In a book that teaches of prāṇa as Brahman and of the paths after death, the simplest human plea is repeated twice — that the children not die before their father.
And the promise is given in the same phrase: “his children do not depart before him”. Note that the rite is performed not in a sanctuary and not at dawn, but in the bedroom, before sleep, and performed by two — or rather by one over the other, in silence toward all else. Domestic life here is severed from the sacred order by no wall and no hour.