Shloka 3
प्राण, अपान, उदान, समान और व्यान--ये पाँचों प्राण पाँच होता हैं। विद्वान् पुरुष इन्हें सबसे श्रेष्ठ मानते हैं ।। ब्राह्मण्युवाच स्वभावात् सप्तहोतार इति मे पूर्विका मति: । यथा वै पञ्चहोतार: परो भावस्तदुच्यताम्,ब्राह्मणी बोली--नाथ! पहले तो मैं समझती थी कि स्वभावतः सात होता हैं; किंतु अब आपके मुँहसे पाँच होताओंकी बात मालूम हुई। अतः ये पाँचों होता किस प्रकार हैं? आप इनकी श्रेष्ठताका वर्णन कीजिये
brāhmaṇy uvāca | svabhāvāt sapta-hotāra iti me pūrvikā matiḥ | yathā vai pañca-hotāraḥ paro bhāvas tad ucyatām ||
The Brahmin woman said: “My earlier understanding was that, by nature, there are seven ‘hotṛs’, the offerers. But now, from your words, I have learned of five offerers. Please explain how these five are to be understood, and describe their pre-eminence.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a shift from an earlier model of “seven offerers” to a teaching about “five offerers,” urging clarification of their higher significance—suggesting that spiritual understanding refines ritual categories into an inner, ethical-spiritual interpretation.
A Brahmin woman, engaged in dialogue with a teacher, states her prior belief in seven inherent ‘hotṛs’ and asks for an explanation of the newly introduced doctrine of five ‘hotṛs,’ requesting an account of why these five are considered superior.