Upanishads · Kauṣītaki 4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
स होवाचा बालाकिर्य एवैष चन्द्रमसि पुरुषस्तमेवाहमुपास इति तं होवाचाजातशत्रुर्मा मैतस्मिन्समवादयिष्ठाः सोमो राजान्नस्यात्मेति वा अहमेतमुपास इति स यो मेवमुपास्तेऽन्नस्यात्मा भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
sa hovācā bālākirya evaiṣa candramasi puruṣastamevāhamupāsa iti taṃ hovācājātaśatrurmā maitasminsamavādayiṣṭhāḥ somo rājānnasyātmeti vā ahametamupāsa iti sa yo mevamupāste'nnasyātmā bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः ह उवाच बालाकिःsaḥ ha uvāca bālākiḥBālāki said; spoke Bālāki
यः एव एषः चन्द्रमसि पुरुषःyaḥ eva eṣaḥ candramasi puruṣaḥ“the puruṣa who is in the moon”; “the person who is in the moon”
तम् एव अहम् उपासे इतिtam eva aham upāse iti“him I revere”; “precisely him I worship”
तम् ह उवाच अजातशत्रुःtam ha uvāca ajātaśatruḥAjātaśatru said to him; that Ajātaśatru replied
मा मा एतस्मिन् समवादयिष्ठाःmā mā etasmin samavādayiṣṭhāḥ“do not draw me into talk of him”; “do not make me discourse of him”
सोमः राजा अन्नस्य आत्मा इतिsomaḥ rājā annasya ātmā iti“king Soma, the self of food”; “the sovereign Soma, the essence of nourishment”
वै अहम् एतम् उपासे इतिvai aham etam upāse iti“so do I revere him”; “thus I worship him”
सः यः ह एतम्saḥ yaḥ ha etamand he who him; the one who him
एवम् उपास्तेevam upāsteso reveres; worships thus
अन्नस्य आत्मा भवतिannasya ātmā bhavatibecomes the self of food; is made the essence of nourishment
Translation
Bālāki said: “The puruṣa who is in the moon — him I revere.” Ajātaśatru said to him: “Do not draw me into talk of him! I revere him as king Soma, the self of food.” And he who so reveres him becomes the self of food.
Version
c6be01c12994 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:43:45 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second pointing is to the moon, and the correction here rests on an ancient Vedic linkage.
The moon is called Soma, and Soma is both the sacrificial drink and plant-sap in general. Hence the definition: annasya ātmā, “the self of food”. The moon is bound to the growth of herbs and grain, to moisture and ripening; in it is seen the source of what all living things feed on.
Bālāki revered the luminary; the king names the power that works through the luminary. The difference is the same as in the first case: not the place, but the one at work in the place.
The fruit again goes by likeness: the reverer of the self of food himself becomes “the self of food” — that is, his sustenance never fails, and he becomes the one around whom others are fed.
It is worth setting this beside the first adhyāya, where the moon was named the gate and the place where the departing are questioned. One and the same luminary can be both the gate of judgment and the giver of food: reverence discloses in it the side a man has recognised there.