नासाध्यात्मं घ्रातव्यमधिभूतं पृथिवी तत्राधिदैवतं नाडी तेषां निबन्धनं यो नासायां यो घ्रातव्ये यः पृथिव्यां यो नाड्यां यः प्राणे यो विज्ञाने य आनन्दे यो हृद्याकाशे य एतस्मिन्सर्वस्मिन्नन्तरे संचरति सोऽयमात्मा तमात्मानमुपासीताजरममृतमभयमशोकमनन्तम्
nāsādhyātmaṃ ghrātavyamadhibhūtaṃ pṛthivī tatrādhidaivataṃ nāḍī teṣāṃ nibandhanaṃ yo nāsāyāṃ yo ghrātavye yaḥ pṛthivyāṃ yo nāḍyāṃ yaḥ prāṇe yo vijñāne ya ānande yo hṛdyākāśe ya etasminsarvasminnantare saṃcarati so'yamātmā tamātmānamupāsītājaramamṛtamabhayamaśokamanantam
The nose — on the side of oneself, the smelled — on the side of beings, and the earth — on the side of deities; the channel — their bond. Who is in the nose, in the smelled, in the earth, in the channel, in the breath, in knowledge, in bliss, in the space of the heart, who moves within all this — He is this very Self. Him let one revere — the unageing, immortal, fearless, sorrowless, endless.
9498908b1d8e · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:12:03 AM UTC
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The third triad: the nose, the smelled, and the earth.
This correspondence is constant in the śāstras: of the five elements, smell answers to earth, taste to water, form to fire, touch to wind, sound to space. Each element is known by its own sense, and smell is the mark of earth.
The observation is true: everything that has flesh smells. Pure water without admixture has no smell; fire smells of what burns, air of what it carries. Smell is there where substance is.
Hence smell in this list is the earthiest of the senses, and earth the densest of the principles. This triad stands at the very bottom of the ladder of perceptions.
And yet its conclusion is the same as the others'. He who is in the nose and in the smell is He who is in the eye, and in the sun, and in the space of the heart. Nowhere does the Upaniṣad say that a low sense yields less: the difference is not in what you perceive with, but in whether He who is within has been recognised.