Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 5,1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
यः ह वै ज्येष्ठम् च श्रेष्ठम् च वेद ज्येष्ठः च ह वै श्रेष्ठः च भवति प्राणः वाव ज्येष्ठः च श्रेष्ठः च
Transliteración (IAST)
yaḥ ha vai jyeṣṭham ca śreṣṭham ca veda jyeṣṭhaḥ ca ha vai śreṣṭhaḥ ca bhavati prāṇaḥ vāva jyeṣṭhaḥ ca śreṣṭhaḥ ca
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
यःyaḥwho; the one who
हhaindeed; surely
वैvaiverily; indeed
ज्येष्ठम्jyeṣṭhamthe eldest (jyeṣṭha — superlative: 'the very oldest'); the first-born; the oldest of all
चcaand; as well as
श्रेष्ठम्śreṣṭhamthe best (śreṣṭha — superlative of śrī: 'the most excellent'); the most excellent; the very best
चcaand; as well as
वेदvedahe knows (from √vid); is aware of; realises
ज्येष्ठःjyeṣṭhaḥthe eldest; the foremost
चcaand; as well as
हhaindeed; surely
वैvaiverily; indeed
श्रेष्ठःśreṣṭhaḥthe best; the most excellent
चcaand; as well as
भवतिbhavatihe becomes (from √bhū); becomes; turns out to be
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa (the breath of life); the vital breath; vital force
वावvāvatruly; indeed
ज्येष्ठःjyeṣṭhaḥthe eldest; the foremost
चcaand; as well as
श्रेष्ठःśreṣṭhaḥthe best; the most excellent
चcaand; as well as
Traducción
He who knows the eldest and the best becomes himself the eldest and the best. The prāṇa is the eldest and the best.
Versión
89dfc0715fdd · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:25:12 UTC
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The fifth adhyāya opens with the teaching of the prāṇa, the breath of life, and its first title is a double one: jyeṣṭha, "eldest", and śreṣṭha, "best". Eldest in time: the breath begins its work in the embryo before speech, sight, hearing or mind; best in worth, as the parable of the quarrelling powers will shortly prove. Age and excellence do not always coincide among men — in the prāṇa they coincide, and that is why it is the measure of everything.
Behind the physiology a theology shows through: the life in a body is the representative of the Life of all that lives. He who honours in his own breath not air but the Giver of breath "becomes himself the eldest and the best" — the law of correspondence familiar from the fourth chapter: as you know him, so you become. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka tells the same parable (6.1), and the Kaṭha will state its summit: "Not by the out-breath nor by the in-breath does a mortal live — by something else do both of these live" (Kaṭha 2.2.5).