Upanishads · Varāha 1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि पञ्चैव वाक्पाण्यङ्घ्र्यादयः क्रमात् । प्राणादतस्तु पञ्चैव पञ्च शब्दादयस्तथा
Transliteration (IAST)
karmendriyāṇi pañcaiva vākpāṇyaṅghryādayaḥ kramāt | prāṇādatastu pañcaiva pañca śabdādayastathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कर्म-इन्द्रियाणि पञ्च एवkarma-indriyāṇi pañca evathe active senses, five indeed
वाक्-पाणि-अङ्घ्रि-आदयः क्रमात्vāk-pāṇi-aṅghri-ādayaḥ kramātspeech, hand, foot, and the rest, in order
प्राण-आदयः तु पञ्च एवprāṇa-ādayaḥ tu pañca evabreaths, however, five indeed
पञ्च शब्द-आदयः तथाpañca śabda-ādayaḥ tathāfive, sound and the rest, likewise
Translation
"The active senses are five: speech, hand, foot, and the rest, in order. The breaths, too, are five, and five are sound and the rest."
Version
8a3623dbb260 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The karma-indriya, "active senses," the five breaths, and the five objects of the senses are added. Worth noting is the division of the senses into knowing and active, for it is fundamental in Sankhya and not adopted in Vaishnava tradition. The five knowing: hearing, skin, eye, tongue, nose — by them one receives.
The five active: speech, hands, feet, the organ of excretion, the organ of generation — by them one acts. This division, on reflection, is sensible and precise. A person not only perceives; he also produces, and produces with the same parts of the body by which he takes in food and air.
Worth noting too is what the count itself shows: they are equal, five each. This correspondence is no accident, and in Sankhya is explained by both arising from ahankara, "ego-making," and hence being symmetrical. The Vaishnava side accepts this count and applies it to its own subject, and the application deserves citing, for it is curious.
Its definition of devotion, cited when reading the Pranagnihotra (4.5), states: hrishikena hrishikesha-sevanam, "service to the Lord of the senses with one's own senses." Worth noting is the word hrishika, "sense," standing there twice: both in the Lord's name (Hrishikesha, "lord of the senses") and in the instrument of service. That is, the senses listed here as principles of matter are called, for it, the instrument of service; and the ten of them are ten ways to serve, not ten fetters.