उपनिषद् · Muṇḍaka 1.2.2
॥
देवनागरी
यदा लेलायते हि अर्चिः समिद्धे हव्यवाहने ।
तदा आज्यभागौ अन्तरेण आहुतीः प्रतिपादयेत् ॥
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
yadā lelāyate hi arciḥ samiddhe havyavāhane |
tadā ājyabhāgau antareṇa āhutīḥ pratipādayet ||
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
यदाyadāwhen; at the moment when
लेलायतेlelāyateflickers (intensive of √lī/lelāy — 'to quiver'); begins to waver; quivers
हिhiindeed; indeed
अर्चिःarciḥthe flame (arcis); the tongue of fire; the blaze
समिद्धेsamiddhein the kindled (sam-√idh — 'to set alight'); in what has flared up; in the blazing
हव्यवाहनेhavyavāhanein the bearer of the offering (havya-vāhana — a name of fire); in the conveyor of oblations; in the offering-carrying fire
तदाtadāthen; at the moment when
आज्यभागौājyabhāgauthe two portions of butter (ājya-bhāga); the two libations of ghee; the two buttered parts
अन्तरेणantareṇabetween; in between
आहुतीःāhutīḥthe offerings; the sacrificial libations
प्रतिपादयेत्pratipādayetlet him present (prati-√pad, causative); let him offer; let him place
अनुवाद
"When in the kindled [fire], the bearer of the offering, the flame begins to waver — then, between the two libations of butter, let him present the oblations."
संस्करण
bb46630665a2 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 8:10:40 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A verse of ritual precision: the libation is made yadā lelāyate arciḥ — "when the flame begins to waver" in samiddhe havya-vāhane — "in the kindled bearer of the offering" (havya-vāhana is a name of fire: "he who conveys the oblations" to the gods), and the offering must be laid ājya-bhāgau antareṇa — "between the two portions of butter", exactly in the middle, between the libations to Agni and to Soma.
Why does an Upaniṣad of knowledge need this liturgical detail? It is a test of seriousness: the path of ritual, if one is to walk it, requires not a pious mood but precision — of time, place and order; the fire must come "alive" (it must waver!) before it will carry the gift. A careless sacrifice is no sacrifice (the next verse will say so in thunder).
And in the detail itself is the type of something larger: the gift is laid into a living flame and at the right moment — so too every offering (a word, a deed, a whole life) bears fruit only when laid into a kindled heart and in season. The outward rule of the agnihotra is the alphabet of the inward: the Praśna has already shown (4.3–4) how the in-breath and the out-breath become the libations of an unbroken inner sacrifice.