Upaniṣads · Aitareya 1,3.4
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् प्राणेन अजिघृक्षत् तत् न अशक्नोत् प्राणेन ग्रहीतुम् सः यत् ह एनत् प्राणेन अग्रहैष्यत् अभिप्राण्य हैव अन्नम् अत्रप्स्यत्
Transliteración (IAST)
tat prāṇena ajighṛkṣat tat na aśaknot prāṇena grahītum saḥ yat ha enat prāṇena agrahaiṣyat abhiprāṇya haiva annam atrapsyat
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तत्tatthat; it
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; with prāṇa
अजिघृक्षत्ajighṛkṣathe tried to seize; he wished to take
तत्tatthat; it
नnanot; no
अशक्नोत्aśaknothe was able; he had the power
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; with prāṇa
ग्रहीतुम्grahītumto seize; to take
सःsaḥhe; that one
यत्yatwhen; that
हhaindeed; surely
एनत्enatthis; it
प्राणेनprāṇenawith the breath; with prāṇa
अग्रहैष्यत्agrahaiṣyatwould have seized; would have taken
अभिप्राण्यabhiprāṇyahaving breathed it in (abhi-pra-√an); having drawn it in with the breath; having inhaled it
हैवhaivaprecisely then; verily
अन्नम्annamfood; nourishment
अत्रप्स्यत्atrapsyathe would have been satisfied; he would have mastered the food
Traducción
He wished to seize it with the breath — and could not seize it with the breath. If he had seized it with the breath, one would be satisfied with food merely by breathing [it] in.
Versión
4941e4eadc2a · publicado 26 jul 2026, 19:36:16 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The second attempt — prāṇena: with the vital breath. And the same miss: if breath could seize food, one would be full by inhaling: abhiprāṇya haiva annam atrapsyat.
The attempt is not accidental: the prāṇa is the king of the body (the parable of the Praśna!), and it was natural to expect that life at least would command food. It does not: life needs food but does not take it: nearness to food is not yet eating; even the vital urge, hunger as such, is not assimilation. How much that lives dies with its breathing intact above food it cannot reach — the prāṇa's miss is familiar to every creature.
The parable builds a negative ladder — on the pattern of "neti neti", but in everyday terms: not by speech, not by breath… — and each refusal outlines the true function of the organ: breath is for living, not for seizing. The world is arranged by a division of services; troubles begin when an organ takes on what is not its own.