Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 5,2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
सः ह उवाच किम् मे अन्नम् भविष्यति इति यत् किंचित् इदम् आ श्वभ्यः आ शकुनिभ्यः इति ह ऊचुः तत् वा एतत् अनस्य अन्नम् अनः ह वै नाम प्रत्यक्षम् न ह वा एवम्विदि किंचनानन्नम् भवति इति
Transliteración (IAST)
saḥ ha uvāca kim me annam bhaviṣyati iti yat kiṃcit idam ā śvabhyaḥ ā śakunibhyaḥ iti ha ūcuḥ tat vā etat anasya annam anaḥ ha vai nāma pratyakṣam na ha vā evamvidi kiṃcanānannam bhavati iti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
किम्kimwhat; why
मेmemyself; for me
अन्नम्annamfood (anna); food; sustenance
भविष्यतिbhaviṣyatiwill be; shall become
इतिitithus; how
यत्yatwhich; that which
किंचित्kiṃcitanything; anything
इदम्idamthis; thus
आātowards; hither
श्वभ्यःśvabhyaḥdown to the dogs (ā śvabhyaḥ — 'including dogs'); as far as dogs; and to dogs
आātowards; hither
शकुनिभ्यःśakunibhyaḥdown to the birds (ā śakunibhyaḥ); as far as birds; and to birds
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
ऊचुःūcuḥsaid; they uttered
तत्tatthat; this
वाvāverily; surely
एतत्etatthis; all this
अनस्यanasyaof Ana (ana — 'the breathing one', prāṇa without the prefix); of the breath called Ana; of Ana the life
अन्नम्annamfood (anna); food; sustenance
अनःanaḥAna; the devourer
हhaindeed; surely
वैvaiverily; indeed
नामnāmathe name; appellation
प्रत्यक्षम्pratyakṣamthe evident (prati-akṣa — 'before the eyes'); the obvious; it is beheld
नnanot; no
हhaindeed; surely
वाvāverily; surely
एवम्विदिevamvidito such a knower; to one who has known thus
किंचनानन्नम्kiṃcanānannamnothing that is not food (kiṁcana + an-anna); nothing that is no food; nothing uneatable
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
इतिitithus; how
Traducción
It asked: "What will be my food?" — "Whatever there is here, down to dogs and birds," they answered. All this is the food of Ana; "Ana" is its manifest name. For one who knows thus there is nothing that is not food.
Versión
3cd9c190fb7b · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:26:36 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
An acknowledged sovereign is assigned his maintenance: the food of the breath is declared to be everything — "down to dogs and birds", that is, with no exceptions of clean and unclean. The breath does not pick and choose whose chest to breathe in: in a brāhmaṇa and in a dog the life is one, and it feeds on everything that lives. A play of names fixes the lesson: prāṇa without its prefix is ana, and food is anna: speech itself shows that "food" (anna) is what belongs to "the breather" (ana).
The clause "for one who knows thus there is nothing that is not food" is not a licence to eat anything (the next verse at once speaks of the ritual purity of food) but a change of vision: the knower sees in all food a servant of life and in all life the breathing of one Lord. This is a view for which there is no "extraneous" substance in the world: everything turns in the great sacrificial round — food, life, food again (cf. BG 3.14) — and therefore everything deserves gratitude.