Upanishads · Prāṇāgnihotra 3.5
॥
Devanāgarī
केऽत्र याजाः । के अनुयाजाः । केडा । कः सूक्तवाकः । कः शंयोर्वाकः । का हिंसा । के पत्नीसंयाजाः
Transliteration (IAST)
ke'tra yājāḥ | ke anuyājāḥ | keḍā | kaḥ sūktavākaḥ | kaḥ śaṃyorvākaḥ | kā hiṃsā | ke patnīsaṃyājāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
के अत्र याजाः के अनुयाजाःke atra yājāḥ ke anuyājāḥwhat are the sacrifices here, what the after-sacrifices
का इडा कः सूक्त-वाकःkā iḍā kaḥ sūkta-vākaḥwhat is the iḍā, what the recitation of the hymn
कः शंयोः वाकः का हिंसाkaḥ śaṃyoḥ vākaḥ kā hiṃsāwhat is the recitation of peace, what the slaying
के पत्नी-संयाजाःke patnī-saṃyājāḥwhat are the sacrifices with the wife
Translation
What are the sacrifices here? what are the after-sacrifices? what is the iḍā? what is the recitation of the hymn? what is the recitation of peace? what is the slaying? what are the sacrifices with the wife?
Version
4a12639bb8c1 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Among the rest, note the question kā hiṃsā, "what is the slaying." The question is put directly, and this is to the book's credit: it does not skirt the fact that slaughter is part of the sacrifice. It should be said, however, that hiṃsā here is probably a ritual term denoting a specific act with the animal, not violence in general.
But the word itself is uttered, and an answer to it will be given. Note also patnī-saṃyāja, "sacrifices with the wife": these are the closing libations, in which the sacrificer's wife participates. This detail matters and deserves stating, for it corrects the usual picture.
The Vedic sacrifice is not performed without a wife: an unmarried man had no right to the great rites, and the spouse was present, recited, and participated. This relation weakened in later codes, but in antiquity it was firm; and the word patnī, standing in this inventory on a par with the priests, is testimony to it. The Vaiṣṇava side has preserved this relation, and in its practice, service performed together by spouses is held ordinary; and its householder order, gṛhastha-āśrama, is, as discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (1.13), not a concession to weakness, but a station that sustains the other three.