Upanishads · Prāṇāgnihotra 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
अस्य यज्ञपरिवृता आहुतीर्होमयति । स्वशरीरे यज्ञं परिवर्तयामीति
Transliteration (IAST)
asya yajñaparivṛtā āhutīrhomayati | svaśarīre yajñaṃ parivartayāmīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अस्य यज्ञ-परिवृताः आहुतीः होमयतिasya yajña-parivṛtāḥ āhutīḥ homayatihe performs the libations surrounded by his sacrifice
स्व-शरीरे यज्ञं परिवर्तयामि इतिsva-śarīre yajñaṃ parivartayāmi iti'in my own body I turn the sacrifice'
Translation
He performs the libations surrounded by his sacrifice: "in my own body I turn the sacrifice."
Version
8ea4becea92a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It says sva-śarīre yajñaṃ parivartayāmi, "in my own body I turn the sacrifice." The verb pari-vṛt means "to turn, to redirect, to transfer"; and it names what this whole book does: the sacrifice has been transferred inward. It is worth saying that this transfer, in the history of Indian faith, is a major event, and not merely a clever turn of phrase.
The sacrifice required property: cattle, grain, clarified butter, priests. A wealthy man could perform it; a poor one could not. Transferring the sacrifice into the body equalized everyone: everyone has a body, and everyone breathes.
The Vaiṣṇava side made the same transfer, but in a different direction, and the distinction deserves stating, for it defines two different practices. Here the sacrifice is transferred inward: the priest, the fire, the offering, and the eater are parts of one person. For it, the sacrifice is transferred onto the voice: the chief rite is declared to be saṅkīrtana, communal singing; and the Bhāgavatam says that the wise in this present age honor the Lord precisely by the sacrifice of singing — yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ (11.5.32).
Both transfers make the rite accessible to the poor; but the first makes it solitary, the second communal. This distinction, to my mind, is the chief one between the two paths. The inner sacrifice is performed alone and requires no one; singing requires at least two — and so turns into a community.