उपनिषद् · Chāndogya 5,1.6
॥
देवनागरी
अथ ह प्राणाः अहंश्रेयसि व्यूदीरे अहम् श्रेयान् अस्मि अहम् श्रेयान् अस्मि इति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
atha ha prāṇāḥ ahaṃśreyasi vyūdīre aham śreyān asmi aham śreyān asmi iti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
प्राणाःprāṇāḥthe vital powers (prāṇāḥ — here: all the faculties of the body); of the prāṇa; the forces of life
अहंश्रेयसिahaṃśreyasiabout precedence (ahaṁ-śreyas — 'which of us is better', the dispute over superiority); as to who is the better; about seniority
व्यूदीरेvyūdīrethey fell to disputing (vi-ud + √īr — 'to speak out against one another'); they began a quarrel; they contended among themselves
अहम्ahamI; I myself
श्रेयान्śreyānbetter (comparative); more excellent; higher
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
अहम्ahamI; I myself
श्रेयान्śreyānbetter (comparative); more excellent; higher
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
इतिitithus; how
अनुवाद
Then the vital powers fell to disputing about pre-eminence: "I am the best! I am the best!"
संस्करण
5c229f1adeb2 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 11:25:12 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The quarrel of the powers is one of the great parables of the Upaniṣads, told in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (6.1), in the Praśna (2.1–4) and in the Kauṣītaki. Each power has just received its title — and at once inflated it into a universal one: "I am the best." So all pride is made: a genuine particular excellence proclaiming itself the whole.
The word ahaṁ-śreyas — "I-am-better" — the Upaniṣad coins as a diagnosis: the dispute is not about service but about superiority. While the powers served the body together the question did not arise; it arose when each looked at itself. A quarrel of faculties within one body is the image of any community that has forgotten for whose sake it is gathered: its members begin measuring whose gift is greater instead of asking whose they all are.