Upanishads · Prāṇāgnihotra 1.14
॥
Devanāgarī
तूष्णीमेकामेकऋषौ जुहोति । द्वे आहवनीये । एकां दक्षिणाग्नौ । एकां गार्हपत्ये । एकां सर्वप्रायश्चित्तीये
Transliteration (IAST)
tūṣṇīmekāmekaṛṣau juhoti | dve āhavanīye | ekāṃ dakṣiṇāgnau | ekāṃ gārhapatye | ekāṃ sarvaprāyaścittīye
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तूष्णीम् एकाम् एक-ऋषौ जुहोतिtūṣṇīm ekām eka-ṛṣau juhotisilently he pours one into Ekarṣi
द्वे आहवनीयेdve āhavanīyetwo into the āhavanīya
एकां दक्षिण-अग्नौekāṃ dakṣiṇa-agnauone into the southern fire
एकां गार्हपत्येekāṃ gārhapatyeone into the household fire
एकां सर्व-प्रायश्चित्तीयेekāṃ sarva-prāyaścittīyeone into the all-atoning fire
Translation
Silently he pours one into Ekarṣi, two into the āhavanīya, one into the southern fire, one into the household fire, one into the all-atoning fire.
Version
7a31f3a87e28 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Five fires of the body are named, corresponding to the five sacrificial fires; and in the second part of the book they will be spelled out in detail. Note the first word: tūṣṇīm, "silently." That is, the first libation is performed without an exclamation.
This detail occurs in ritual books and is always noted specially: there are libations with a mantra, and there are tūṣṇīm, silent ones. It is worth saying what lies behind this, for there is a thought here. A word, in ritual, indicates the addressee: the exclamation names to whom. A silent libation names no addressee — and so is meant for the One who cannot be named.
The Vaiṣṇava side speaks little of silence, and the reason was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (5.5): its means is sound. Let us add, however, that it does speak of silence, and this is fitting here. It has a state called stambha, "stupor" — one of the eight bodily marks of intense feeling: the voice fails, and a person cannot utter the Name, even wishing to.
This state, in its books, is held not a hindrance but a sign; and Caitanya is described in it more often than speaking. The correspondence works out thus: silence that comes instead of a word is emptiness; silence that comes after a word and from it is its culmination.