Upanishads · Yājñavalkya p9
॥
Devanāgarī
यदग्निं न विन्देदप्सु जुहुयादापो वै सर्वा देवताः सर्वाभ्यो देवताभ्यो जुहोमि स्वाहेति साज्यं हविरनामयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yadagniṃ na vindedapsu juhuyādāpo vai sarvā devatāḥ sarvābhyo devatābhyo juhomi svāheti sājyaṃ haviranāmayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत् अग्निं न विन्देत्yat agniṃ na vindetif he does not find fire
अप्सु जुहुयात्apsu juhuyātlet him pour into the waters
आपः वै सर्वाः देवताःāpaḥ vai sarvāḥ devatāḥ"the waters are all the deities
सर्वाभ्यः देवताभ्यःsarvābhyaḥ devatābhyaḥto all the deities
जुहोमि स्वाहाjuhomi svāhāI pour — svāhā"
स-आज्यं हविः अन्-आमयम्sa-ājyaṃ haviḥ an-āmayaman oblation with ghee, painless
Translation
If he does not find fire, let him pour into the waters: "the waters are all the deities; to all the deities I pour — svāhā!" — an oblation with ghee, painless.
Version
a4e0c961e6e2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A substitute is given: if there is no fire, pour into water. This qualification is of the kind we have noted in every book, and it is worth noting again, for it is, to my mind, the mark of a well-composed code. A code that fails to anticipate a shortage condemns a person to a choice between impossibility and transgression. A code that anticipates it keeps him in the practice.
Let us add the grounding the book gives: āpo vai sarvā devatāḥ, "the waters are all the deities." This identification is constant in the Vedas and rests on water being the origin of everything: the Ṛgveda speaks of the primordial waters, the Bhāgavatam begins creation with the ocean. That is, the substitution is not arbitrary: water is named not as a "suitable substitute," but as that which contains all.
It is worth noting the last word too: anāmayam, "painless," from āmaya, "illness." This qualifier is rarely applied to an oblation and apparently means "faultless, causing no harm." Let us add that the Vaiṣṇava side acts the same way in similar circumstances, and her rule is stated in the Gītā's well-known verse: patraṃ puṣpaṃ phalaṃ toyam, "a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water" (9.26); and water there is named last and least — that is, what is always and for everyone available.