Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 19
॥
Devanāgarī
आनन्दमय आत्मा तु ततोऽन्यश्चान्तरस्थितः । योऽयमन्नमयः सोऽयं पूर्णः प्राणमयेन तु
Transliteration (IAST)
ānandamaya ātmā tu tato'nyaścāntarasthitaḥ | yo'yamannamayaḥ so'yaṃ pūrṇaḥ prāṇamayena tu
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आनन्द-मयः आत्मा तुānanda-mayaḥ ātmā tuthe self consisting of bliss
ततः अन्यः च अन्तर-स्थितःtataḥ anyaḥ ca antara-sthitaḥfrom that, other and standing within
यः अयम् अन्न-मयः सः अयंyaḥ ayam anna-mayaḥ saḥ ayaṃthis one consisting of food
पूर्णः प्राण-मयेन तुpūrṇaḥ prāṇa-mayena tuis full with the one consisting of breath
Translation
The self consisting of bliss — from that, other and standing within. This one consisting of food is full with the one consisting of breath.
Version
27be7a19deee · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mapping has reached the fifth sheath, and again it is said anyā ca antara-sthitaḥ, "other and standing within." The word is repeated for the third time in a row. And then the second half of the thought begins, and it is fine: pūrṇaḥ prāṇa-mayena, "[consisting of food] is full with the one consisting of breath."
That is, the sheaths are not simply nested like boxes; the inner one fills the outer. The body is full of breath — and hence is alive; take away the breath, and the body remains, but the living thing is gone. This image is more precise than usual. Boxes nested one inside another convey nothing to each other; but here the outer is held by the fact that the inner is within it, and settles without it.
The Vaiṣṇava side cites this likeness gladly, for it explains her position better than many arguments. The soul relates to the body just as breath relates to the body in this verse: it is not the body and is not separate from it, and as long as it is in it, the body is alive. And exactly so does He relate to the soul: He is not it and is not separate from it; and as long as He is in it, it is.
A separate word is worth saying about the word pūrṇa, "full." It is among the chief words in this literature and stands in the famous verse that opens and closes the Īśā: "that is full, this is full; taking the full from the full, the full remains." Fullness in these books is not a quantity, but a property: the full does not become smaller for having something taken from it.