Upanishads · Mahāvākya p18
॥
Devanāgarī
यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजन्त देवाः । तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन्
Transliteration (IAST)
yajñena yajñamayajanta devāḥ | tāni dharmāṇi prathamānyāsan
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यज्ञेन यज्ञम् अयजन्त देवाःyajñena yajñam ayajanta devāḥby sacrifice the gods sacrificed the sacrifice
तानि धर्माणि प्रथमानि आसन्tāni dharmāṇi prathamāni āsanthese were the first sacred duties
Translation
«By sacrifice the gods sacrificed the sacrifice; these were the first sacred duties.»
Version
b1884f19e22a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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A verse from the Puruṣa-sūkta is cited (Ṛgveda 10.90.16), and it is one of the most obscure in the whole Veda: yajñena yajñam ayajanta devāḥ, “by sacrifice the gods sacrificed the sacrifice.” It is worth examining what this may mean, for there are several interpretations. First: the gods sacrificed Puruṣa Himself, and from His parts the world arose; the whole hymn concerns this. Then “by sacrifice the sacrifice” means: what was sacrificed was the same as that to which it was sacrificed.
Second: the rite was offered up to the rite, that is, the sacrifice was performed for the sake of the sacrifice itself, not for a fruit. Both readings are ancient, and the book does not choose. The Vaiṣṇava side holds to the first, and points out that it is, in essence, a statement about the self-offering of the Highest: the world arose because Puruṣa gave Himself.
This position deserves stating, for it places at the foundation of the world not power and not play, but giving. It adds, too, something essential to it. This giving is not a diminishment: the Puruṣa-sūkta opens by saying that Puruṣa “surpassed [the world] by ten fingers' breadth” (10.90.1) — that is, gave, and remained greater than what was given.
This consideration resolves the old difficulty of how the infinite can produce something from itself without being diminished. The hymn's answer: it produced, and was not diminished; and the same answer is repeated in the verse on fullness with which this book opens in the editions: “full is that, full is this; from the full, the full proceeds; taking the full from the full, the full remains.”