Upanishads · Varāha 5.48
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्नस्य परिपाकेन रसवृद्धिः प्रजायते । रसे वृद्धिं गते नित्यं वर्धन्ते धातवस्तथा
Transliteration (IAST)
annasya paripākena rasavṛddhiḥ prajāyate | rase vṛddhiṃ gate nityaṃ vardhante dhātavastathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अन्नस्य परिपाकेनannasya paripākenaby the digestion of food
रस-वृद्धिः प्रजायतेrasa-vṛddhiḥ prajāyateincrease of sap is born
रसे वृद्धिं गते नित्यंrase vṛddhiṃ gate nityaṃwhen sap constantly increases
वर्धन्ते धातवः तथाvardhante dhātavaḥ tathāso the tissues increase
Translation
"By the digestion of food, increase of sap is born; when sap constantly increases, so the tissues increase."
Version
b959b5b01d50 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Rasa and dhatu are named, and it is worth speaking of them, for these are already directly medical terms. Rasa here means "sap" — the first thing formed from digested food; and we have met this word in two other meanings, "taste" and "mercury," discussed when reading the second chapter (2.71) and (2.78). Dhatu means "tissue, bodily constituent"; they are counted as seven, and they form one from another: sap, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, seed.
This teaching belongs to Ayurveda and is its foundation; it is given here in passing, as common knowledge. Let us add what deserves noting about the order itself. The seven tissues form sequentially, and the last is shukra, "seed"; and hence in these books seed is honored as the condensation of the whole body, and its expenditure as the expenditure of all.
Hence the whole strictness of these writings about restraint: it is a conclusion drawn from physiology, not from morality. The Vaishnava side treats restraint strictly too, but gives a different ground, and it is worth citing. Its brahmacharya is not the saving of substance, but the saving of attention: what matters is not what the body has spent, but what the mind is occupied with.
Hence its rule permits family life and does not count it a fall; and of the fact that a householder can even stand above a hermit, discussed when reading Yajnavalkya (p10). On a physiological ground, no such allowance is possible, and hence these books are stricter toward the married.