उपनिषद् Praśna 1.9

Praśna UpaniṣadPraśna 1.9

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उपनिषद् · Praśna 1.9

॥

देवनागरी

संवत्सरो वै प्रजापतिः ।
तस्यायने दक्षिणं चोत्तरं च ।
तद् ये ह वै तदिष्टापूर्ते कृतिम् इत्य् उपासते ते चान्द्रमसम् एव लोकम् अभिजयन्ते ।
त एव पुनर् आवर्तन्ते ।
तस्माद् एत ऋषयः प्रजाकामा दक्षिणं प्रतिपद्यन्ते ।
एष ह वै रयिर् यः पितृयाणः

लिप्यंतरण (IAST)

शब्दशः अर्थ

संस्कृतIASTअर्थ

संवत्सरः वैsaṃvatsaraḥ vaithe year indeed; the yearly round

प्रजापतिःprajāpatiḥPrajāpati; the lord of creatures

तस्य अयनेtasya ayanehis two courses; his two half-years

दक्षिणम् चdakṣiṇam cathe southern and; the southern course

उत्तरम् चuttaram cathe northern and; the northern course

तत् ये ह वैtat ye ha vaithose who; therefore those

तत् इष्टापूर्तेtat iṣṭāpūrtesacrifices and works of public good; iṣṭa and pūrta

कृतिम् इतिkṛtim itias 'what is done', thus; as action

उपासतेupāsatethey venerate (upa-√ās); they worship [as the highest]; serve

ते चान्द्रमसम् एवte cāndramasam evathey, the lunar indeed; they, only the lunar

लोकम् अभिजयन्तेlokam abhijayantethey win (abhi-√ji); they attain by conquest; they gain

ते एवte evathey indeed; those same

पुनः आवर्तन्तेpunaḥ āvartantethey return (ā-√vṛt); they come again; they come back

तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason

एते ऋषयःete ṛṣayaḥthese seers; such sages

प्रजाकामाःprajākāmāḥdesiring offspring (prajā-kāma); craving the continuance of their line; seeking progeny

दक्षिणम् प्रतिपद्यन्तेdakṣiṇam pratipadyantethey take the southern path; they follow the southern course

एषः ह वैeṣaḥ ha vaithis, truly; this one indeed

रयिःrayiḥrayi; the nourishing-material way

यः पितृयाणःyaḥ pitṛyāṇaḥwhich is the path of the fathers; pitṛyāṇa

अनुवाद

"The year indeed is Prajāpati; it has two courses, the southern and the northern. Those who venerate [only] sacrifices and works of charity as the [chief] deed win the lunar world — and return again. Therefore the seers who desire offspring take the southern [path]; this is rayi, the path of the fathers."

भाष्य

Prajāpati shows himself as time too: saṁvatsaro vai prajāpatiḥ — "the year is Prajāpati"; creation continues in the round of the seasons, and the yearly circle has two "arms": dakṣiṇam — the southern (the half-year of the waning sun) and uttaram — the northern (the half-year of the growing light). Behind the astronomy lie two roads for the soul.

The southern: ye… iṣṭāpūrte kṛtam ity upāsate — "who venerate the sacrificial and the charitable as the [chief] deed": iṣṭa is rites, pūrta public benefactions (wells, gardens, shelters). A worthy path — but one that rests its hope on works: te cāndramasam eva lokam abhijayante — "they win the lunar world" (the world of rayi, the stored and nourishing!) — ta eva punar āvartante — "and they return again": a stock of merit is finite, and when it is spent comes the return into the round of births. Merit is a currency, not a citizenship.

eṣa ha vai rayir yaḥ pitṛyāṇaḥ — "this is rayi, the path of the fathers": the road of the continuance of family and world, hallowed but circular. The Gītā (8.25 and 9.21) speaks of it in the same words: "having spent [their merit] they enter again the world of mortals." The Upaniṣad does not condemn the southern path — it merely strips from it a false promise of finality; of the road with no return, the next verse.

संस्करण

8ff2b37a283b · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 8:35:21 pm UTC

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