Upaniṣads · Prāṇāgnihotra 1.15
॥
Devanāgarī
अथापिधानमस्यमृतत्वायोपस्पृश्य पुनरादाय पुनरुपस्पृशेत्
Transliteración (IAST)
athāpidhānamasyamṛtatvāyopaspṛśya punarādāya punarupaspṛśet
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अथ अपिधानम् असिatha apidhānam asithen: 'you are the covering'
अमृतत्वाय उपस्पृश्यamṛtatvāya upaspṛśyahaving touched [the water] for the sake of immortality
पुनः आदाय पुनः उपस्पृशेत्punaḥ ādāya punaḥ upaspṛśethaving taken it again, let him touch it again
Traducción
Then: "you are the covering" — having touched [the water] for the sake of immortality; having taken it again, let him touch it again.
Versión
9648453c6960 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The conclusion is described: after eating, one again sips water and says "you are the covering." Note the very structure of the rite, for it is closed: water at the start, water at the end. This closure is a property of every well-formed act, and deserves stating.
A task with a beginning and an end is separated from the rest of life; and a person who finishes it knows he has finished. A task with neither beginning nor end dissolves: it never began, and so never ends either. This observation is a matter of everyday life and familiar to everyone from work. One who sits down to a task with preparation and rises with completion is working; one who "works a little all the time" is not working at all.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds to rites of framing in abundance. Every service of it has a maṅgala-ācaraṇa ("auspicious opening") and a praṇāma ("bow") at the end; every reading begins and ends with a verse. Let us add what follows from this for those who keep no rites.
Framing is not superstition and requires no faith: it is a structuring of attention. It is enough to pause silently before a task and pause silently after it — and the task turns out done, not merely happened.