Upaniṣads · Praśna 1.11
॥
Devanāgarī
पञ्चपादं पितरं द्वादशकृतिं दिव आहुः परे अर्धे पुरीषिणम् ।
अथेमे अन्य उ परे विचक्षणं सप्तचक्रे षडर आहुरर्पितमिति
Transliteración (IAST)
pañcapādaṃ pitaraṃ dvādaśakṛtiṃ diva āhuḥ pare ardhe purīṣiṇam /
atheme anya u pare vicakṣaṇaṃ saptacakre ṣaḍara āhurarpitamiti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
पञ्चपादम्pañcapādamthe five-footed (pañca-pāda — the five seasons); with five feet; five-legged
पितरम्pitaramthe father; the begetter
द्वादशकृतिम्dvādaśakṛtimof twelvefold shape (dvādaśa-kṛti — the twelve months); with twelve forms; twelve-formed
दिवःdivaḥthe sky; the shining world
आहुःāhuḥthey call; they say
परे अर्धेpare ardhein the far half; in the upper region
पुरीषिणम्purīṣiṇamladen with moisture (purīṣin — 'full of water'); rain-bearing; swollen with wet
अथ इमेatha imebut these; others again
अन्ये उ परेanye u pareothers above; some in the higher [region]
विचक्षणम्vicakṣaṇamthe all-seeing (vicakṣaṇa — 'keen-eyed'); the far-sighted; the clear-seeing
सप्तचक्रेsaptacakreon the seven-wheeled (sapta-cakra); with seven wheels; seven-wheeled
षडरेṣaḍaresix-spoked (ṣaḍ-ara — the six seasons); with six spokes; having six spokes
आहुःāhuḥthey call; they say
अर्पितम् इतिarpitam iti'set fast', thus; saying 'placed'
Traducción
"They call him the five-footed father, of twelvefold shape, laden with moisture in the upper half of heaven. But others say: [he is] the all-seeing, set upon a seven-wheeled, six-spoked [chariot]."
Versión
d227fa3b6de6 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 20:35:21 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The promised hymn-verse — a riddle about the year, composed out of numbers. pañca-pādam pitaram — "the five-footed father": the five seasons (the Vedic reckoning merges winter with the pre-winter); dvādaśa-kṛtim — "of twelvefold shape": the twelve months as twelve guises; pare ardhe purīṣiṇam — "laden with moisture in the upper half of heaven": swollen with rain in the northern, bright half of the course. Father Year strides on five feet and changes twelve garments.
The second riddle comes from "certain others": vicakṣaṇam sapta-cakre ṣaḍ-ara āhur arpitam — "the all-seeing, set upon seven wheels, six spokes": the seven ray-horses of the solar chariot (the seven metres of Vedic poetry, the seven colours of a beam) and six spokes — the six seasons of the Indian count. One and the same year is reckoned by fives and sixes, by twelves and sevens — and both riddles are true: time is many-faced, like Prajāpati himself.
Why these games with number? Vedic thought does not "ornament" — it trains the eye to read the calendar as a hieroglyph: the year is not an empty counter but a living countenance of the Lord of creatures, the chariot of "the all-seeing". For one who reads time as His handwriting, the very months become a reminder — the more so as every month, as Pippalāda will now say, is again divided into rayi and prāṇa.