Upanishads · Kaṭharudra p9
॥
Devanāgarī
पयसा यं प्राश्नीयात्सोऽस्य सायंहोमः । यत्प्रातः सोऽयं प्रातः । यद्दर्शे तद्दर्शनम् । यत्पौर्णमास्ये तत्पौर्णमास्यम् । यद्वसन्ते केशश्मश्रुलोमनखानि वापयेत्सोऽस्याग्निष्टोमः
Transliteration (IAST)
payasā yaṃ prāśnīyātso'sya sāyaṃhomaḥ | yatprātaḥ so'yaṃ prātaḥ | yaddarśe taddarśanam | yatpaurṇamāsye tatpaurṇamāsyam | yadvasante keśaśmaśrulomanakhāni vāpayetso'syāgniṣṭomaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पयसा यं प्राश्नीयात्payasā yaṃ prāśnīyātwhat he eats with milk
सः अस्य सायं-होमःsaḥ asya sāyaṃ-homaḥthat is his evening libation
यत् प्रातः सः अयं प्रातःyat prātaḥ saḥ ayaṃ prātaḥwhat in the morning — that is his morning [libation]
यत् दर्शे तत् दर्शनम्yat darśe tat darśanamwhat at the new moon — that is his new-moon [rite]
सः अस्य अग्नि-ष्टोमःsaḥ asya agni-ṣṭomaḥthat is his agniṣṭoma
Translation
What he eats with milk — that is his evening libation; what in the morning — that is his morning one. What at the new moon — that is his new-moon rite; what at the full moon — that is his full-moon rite. What in spring he cuts — hair, beard, nails — that is his agniṣṭoma.
Version
6172724897bd · published Aug 7, 2026, 1:56:05 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is an excellent passage, containing the whole thought of setting-aside. It is said: what you eat in the evening is your evening sacrifice; what in the morning, the morning one; cutting the hair in spring is your agniṣṭoma, one of the most solemn Vedic rites, requiring many priests, cattle, and months of preparation. That is, the rites are not canceled, but transferred into the body. The renounced performs no sacrifices, because everything he does has become a sacrifice; and this is not a concession but a change of place: the fire has been moved inward.
This thought is old and already present in the Chāndogya, where a person's whole life is mapped as a soma-yajña: hunger is the consecration, eating the libation, laughter and eating the hymns (3.16–17). The Vaiṣṇava side accepts this position and carries it further than any other, stating it in the Gītā's words: "whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give, whatever austerity you perform — do it as an offering to Me" (9.27). The difference is in one thing only, and it is not trivial. Here food is a sacrifice in itself, because an inner fire burns; there food is a sacrifice because it is offered to Someone. The first does without a second person; the second does not — and hence the first ends with a person left alone with his own fire, while the second ends with two at the table.