Upanishads · Prāṇāgnihotra 2.10
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रायश्चित्तयस्त्वधस्तात्तिर्यक् तिस्रो हिमांशुप्रभाभिः प्रजननकर्मा
Transliteration (IAST)
prāyaścittayastvadhastāttiryak tisro himāṃśuprabhābhiḥ prajananakarmā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रायश्चित्तयः तु अधस्तात्prāyaścittayaḥ tu adhastātbut the atoning [fires], below
तिर्यक् तिस्रःtiryak tisraḥthree, across
हिमांशु-प्रभाभिःhimāṃśu-prabhābhiḥwith the radiance of the moon's rays
प्रजनन-कर्माprajanana-karmāproducing offspring
Translation
But the atoning [fires] are below, across, three, with the radiance of the moon's rays, producing offspring.
Version
8cfc0c1f6920 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three more fires are named, prāyaścittya, "atoning," placed below and connected with the begetting of offspring. Note the word prāyaścitta, "atonement," for it is used here unusually: not as a rite, but as the name of a fire. In sacrificial practice, sarva-prāyaścitti is a special libation performed at the end of the rite, in case of errors: if something was done wrong, it covers the oversight.
This detail, to my mind, is one of the most human in the whole ritual literature, and deserves stating. The compilers of the rite knew it would be performed with errors: the priest would falter, the word would come out wrong, the wrong thing would be used. And instead of threatening, they arranged a libation that covers the error.
That is, forgiveness for inaccuracy is built into the very structure of the rite. The Vaiṣṇava side holds this rule and states it directly. Its books say that in the repetition of the Name there occur errors — offenses, carelessness, distraction; and the remedy prescribed for them is the very same repetition: nāma-aparādha is removed by unceasing continuation.
Let us add what follows from this and lifts the burden from the beginner. Where an error is corrected by a separate remedy, one must also remember the remedy. Where it is corrected by continuation, one need only not give up; and this, to my mind, is a more merciful and more reliable arrangement.