The verse and its meaning · Upanishads · Taittiriya · Bhrigu Asks His Father

Water and Light Together

Taittiriya Upanishad 3.8.1

अन्नं न परिचक्षीत । तद्व्रतम् । आपो वा अन्नम् । ज्योतिरन्नादम् । अप्सु ज्योतिः प्रतिष्ठितम् । ज्योतिष्यापः प्रतिष्ठिताः । तदेतदन्नमन्ने प्रतिष्ठितम् । स य एतदन्नमन्ने प्रतिष्ठितं वेद प्रतितिष्ठति । अन्नवानन्नादो भवति । महान्भवति प्रजया पशुभिर्ब्रह्मवर्चसेन महान् कीर्त्या

Meaning · English

Do not refuse food; that is the vow. Water is food, light its eater; each rests on the other. Whoever knows food resting on food stands firm and grows great.

The vow is simple: do not refuse food or push it aside. The teacher then names a pair. Water is food. Light, the heat of fire and sun, is what eats it. Yet light is set in water and water is set in light, so each holds up the other. Food rests on food. The person who understands this stands steady, has food and enjoys it, and grows great in children, in cattle, in the glow of sacred learning, and in good name.

Watch a candle burn. The flame stands on a small pool of melted wax, and that pool exists only because the flame's heat made it. The flame draws up the liquid and burns it, and the liquid keeps the flame alive. Light and water are paired the same way: the one that eats and the one that is eaten hold each other in place.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Eater and Eaten · Taittiriya Upanishad 3.7.1
• Next: Earth and Space Uphold Each Other · Taittiriya Upanishad 3.9.1
• All of Upanishads · Ask Krishna about it

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