अथ ह एनम् उषस्तः चाक्रायणः पप्रच्छ याज्ञवल्क्येति ह उवाच यत् साक्षात् अपरोक्षात् ब्रह्म यः आत्मा सर्वान्तरः तं मे व्याचक्ष्व इति एषः ते आत्मा सर्वान्तरः यः प्राणेन प्राणिति सः ते आत्मा सर्वान्तरः यः अपानेनापानिति सः ते आत्मा सर्वान्तरः यः व्यानेन व्यनिति सः ते आत्मा सर्वान्तरः यः उदानेनोदनिति सः ते आत्मा सर्वान्तरः एषः ते आत्मा सर्वान्तरः
atha ha enam uṣastaḥ cākrāyaṇaḥ papraccha yājñavalkyeti ha uvāca yat sākṣāt aparokṣāt brahma yaḥ ātmā sarvāntaraḥ taṃ me vyācakṣva iti eṣaḥ te ātmā sarvāntaraḥ yaḥ prāṇena prāṇiti saḥ te ātmā sarvāntaraḥ yaḥ apānenāpāniti saḥ te ātmā sarvāntaraḥ yaḥ vyānena vyaniti saḥ te ātmā sarvāntaraḥ yaḥ udānenodaniti saḥ te ātmā sarvāntaraḥ eṣaḥ te ātmā sarvāntaraḥ
Then Uṣasta Cākrāyaṇa questioned him: "Yājñavalkya," he said, "explain to me the Brahman that is evident and not hidden, the ātman that is within all." — "This is your ātman, that is within all." — "Which one, Yājñavalkya, is within all?" — "He who breathes with the in-breath is your ātman within all; he who breathes with the out-breath is your ātman within all; he who breathes with the diffused breath is your ātman within all; he who breathes with the up-breath is your ātman within all. This is your ātman, that is within all."
84c9567e2be4 · प्रकाशित 27 जुल॰ 2026, 1:01:54 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The fourth questioner is Uṣasta, and his demand is the most direct in the whole brahmodya: sākṣād aparokṣād brahma — the Brahman that is "evident, unhidden", not through concepts and not by hearsay: show it! And Yājñavalkya shows it — nearer it cannot be: eṣa ta ātmā sarvāntaraḥ — "this is your ātman, within all": the One who breathes in you with all four breaths.
Note the wording: not "the breath is the ātman" but "he who breathes with the breath" (yaḥ prāṇena prāṇiti) — the Breather, not the breathing; the owner of the process, not the process. Nothing could be pointed out more nearly or more plainly: while Uṣasta listens to the answer, the One he asked about is breathing in him. But Uṣasta is not satisfied — and his dissatisfaction will now draw out one of the most famous answers in the Upaniṣads.