उपनिषद् · Chāndogya 5,24.1
॥
देवनागरी
सः यः इदम् अविद्वान् अग्निहोत्रम् जुहोति यथा अङ्गारान् अपोह्य भस्मनि जुहुयात् तादृक् तत् स्यात्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
saḥ yaḥ idam avidvān agnihotram juhoti yathā aṅgārān apohya bhasmani juhuyāt tādṛk tat syāt
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सःsaḥhe; that one
यःyaḥwho; the one who
इदम्idamthis; thus
अविद्वान्avidvānnot knowing (a-vidvas); the ignorant one; without knowledge
अग्निहोत्रम्agnihotramthe agnihotra (agni-hotra — the daily oblation to fire); the fire-offering; the agnihotra
जुहोतिjuhotihe offers (from √hu); he offers; he pours the libation
यथाyathāhow; like
अङ्गारान्aṅgārānthe coals (aṅgāra); the embers; the burning coals
अपोह्यapohyahaving raked them aside (apa + √ūh — 'to push away'); having moved them away; having cleared them off
भस्मनिbhasmaniupon the ashes (bhasman); into the ashes; upon the embers' dust
जुहुयात्juhuyātlet him make the oblation; let him bring
तादृक्tādṛkjust so (tādṛś — 'of that kind'); exactly such; such is it
तत्tatthat; this
स्यात्syātcould be; it would become
अनुवाद
He who performs the agnihotra without knowing this is as one who has raked away the embers and pours his oblation onto the ashes.
संस्करण
bcc45e161fc3 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 11:33:32 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The verdict on ritual without knowledge is one of the sharpest comparisons in the Upaniṣads: the agnihotra of an ignorant man is an oblation into ashes (bhasmani juhuyāt). Outwardly all is in order: the butter, the ladle, the words; but there is no fire under the oblation — no living understanding of to whom and what is being offered. Ashes are what a fire leaves behind, form without heat: an exact image of a rite from which knowledge has departed.
Note the measure of the judgement: not "useless" but "into ashes" — that is, to no purpose, yet not sacrilege either. The Upaniṣad does not curse plain ritual — it registers its coldness. The whole difference between ash and flame lies in the vidyā: the same rice, the same hour, but for a knower the meal burns with all five fires of the Vaiśvānara. Form lives by knowledge as a body lives by breath; the bhakti tradition will say the same of mechanical prayer: a name uttered without the heart is the cinder of a name.