अन्नात् वै प्रजाः प्रजायन्ते याः काः च पृथिवीम् श्रिताः अथो अन्नेन एव जीवन्ति अथ एनत् अपि यन्ति अन्ततः अन्नम् हि भूतानाम् ज्येष्ठम् तस्मात् सर्वौषधम् उच्यते सर्वम् वै ते अन्नम् आप्नुवन्ति ये अन्नम् ब्रह्म उपासते अन्नम् हि भूतानाम् ज्येष्ठम् तस्मात् सर्वौषधम् उच्यते अन्नात् भूतानि जायन्ते जातानि अन्नेन वर्धन्ते अद्यते अत्ति च भूतानि तस्मात् अन्नम् तत् उच्यते इति तस्मात् वै एतस्मात् अन्नरसमयात् अन्यः अन्तरः आत्मा प्राणमयः तेन एषः पूर्णः सः वै एषः पुरुषविधः एव तस्य पुरुषविधताम् अन्वयम् पुरुषविधः तस्य प्राणः एव शिरः व्यानः दक्षिणः पक्षः अपानः उत्तरः पक्षः आकाशः आत्मा पृथिवी पुछ्छम् प्रतिष्ठा तत् अपि एषः श्लोकः भवति
annāt vai prajāḥ prajāyante yāḥ kāḥ ca pṛthivīm śritāḥ atho annena eva jīvanti atha enat api yanti antataḥ annam hi bhūtānām jyeṣṭham tasmāt sarvauṣadham ucyate sarvam vai te annam āpnuvanti ye annam brahma upāsate annam hi bhūtānām jyeṣṭham tasmāt sarvauṣadham ucyate annāt bhūtāni jāyante jātāni annena vardhante adyate atti ca bhūtāni tasmāt annam tat ucyate iti tasmāt vai etasmāt annarasamayāt anyaḥ antaraḥ ātmā prāṇamayaḥ tena eṣaḥ pūrṇaḥ saḥ vai eṣaḥ puruṣavidhaḥ eva tasya puruṣavidhatām anvayam puruṣavidhaḥ tasya prāṇaḥ eva śiraḥ vyānaḥ dakṣiṇaḥ pakṣaḥ apānaḥ uttaraḥ pakṣaḥ ākāśaḥ ātmā pṛthivī puchcham pratiṣṭhā tat api eṣaḥ ślokaḥ bhavati
From food are beings born — all that live upon the earth; by food they live, and into food they pass at the end: for food is the eldest of beings, and therefore it is called the all-healing. All food is obtained by those who worship food as Brahman: for food is the eldest of beings, and therefore it is called the all-healing. From food are beings born; being born, by food they grow; it is eaten and it eats beings — therefore it is called food. But within this [man] who consists of the essence of food is another self, consisting of breath: by that the former is filled. He too has the form of a man: after the man-shape of the one, man-shaped is the other. Breath is his head, the diffused breath his right side, the downward breath his left side, space his trunk, earth his lower part, the support. Of that there is also a verse.
2199289c3c14 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 19:50:25 UTC
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The first sheath is considered with honour — and opened. The hymn to food is magnificent: annaṁ hi bhūtānāṁ jyeṣṭham — "food is the eldest of beings" (matter before all organisms!), sarvauṣadham — "the all-healing" (every medicine is in the last resort nourishment); and the etymological play: adyate 'tti ca bhūtāni — "it is eaten and it eats beings — therefore anna": food eats its eaters — everything that eats will be eaten: a cycle in which there are no consumers, only links.
ye annaṁ brahmopāsate — "those who worship food as Brahman obtain all food": to revere matter as divine gives mastery over matter; this is no mockery but the honest wage of a level: as the object of worship, so the fruit (Gītā 4.11: "as men approach Me, so do I receive them").
And then the turn that sets the method of the whole vallī: tasmād vā etasmāt… anyo 'ntara ātmā prāṇamayaḥ — "within this is another, inner self, made of breath": the body is not the last truth about man; inside the food-doll is a breath-doll of the same shape (puruṣa-vidha — "man-formed": every sheath repeats the form of the Dweller, as a scabbard the form of a sword). So the Upaniṣad teaches the chief gesture of self-knowledge: of every "I am this" ask — and who is within?