Prashna Upanishad – I – Spiritual paths of the Moon and Sun – 14   «   »

Prashna Upanishad – I – Spiritual paths of the Moon and Sun – 14   «   »

अन्नं वै प्रजापतिस्ततो ह वै तद्रेतस्तस्मादिमाः प्रजाः
प्रजायन्त इति ॥ १.१४॥
annaṃ vai prajāpatistato ha vai tadretastasmādimāḥ prajāḥ
prajāyanta iti .. 1.14..
Translation by Swami Sivananda
14 Food, verily, is Prajapati. From that comes semen; from semen are all these creatures born.

Translation by Max Mueller
14. Food is Prajapati. Hence proceeds seed, and from it these creatures are born.

Word Meaning
अन्नं (annaṃ) – food
वै (vai) – verily
प्रजापतिः (prajāpatiḥ) – Prajāpati
ह (ha) – indeed
वै (vai) – verily
तत् (tat) – that
रेतः (retaḥ) – the seed-fluid
तस्मात् (tasmāt) – from that
इमाः (imāḥ) – these
प्रजाः (prajāḥ) – creatures
प्रजायन्ते (prajāyante) – are born
इति (iti) – thus
deity_Prashna

Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri

Thus modified in this order, food is the lord of creation. How? From that is semen virile, the seed in man, the cause of creation. From that, sprinkled in woman, these creatures, such as men, etc., are produced. What was asked for, from whence are creatures produced, has thus been determined, that these creatures are produced by couples, beginning with the sun and the moon and ending with the day and the night, through food, blood and semen virile.

Prashna Upanishad – 14 – Prashna-1-14-annaṃ vai – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Prashna-1-14