Prashna Upanishad 3: Verse 3

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

अथ कबन्धी कात्यायन उपेत्य पप्रच्छ । भगवन् कुतो ह वा इमाः प्रजाः प्रजायन्त इति ॥३॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

atha kabandhī kātyāyanaḥ upetya papraccha bhagavan kutaḥ ha vā imāḥ prajāḥ prajāyanta iti ॥३॥

Recitation with translationPrashna Upanishad 3

IAST Transliteration

atha kabandhī kātyāyana upetya papraccha bhagavan kuto ha vā imāḥ prajāḥ prajāyanta iti ॥३॥

Translation

फिर कबन्धी आगे बढ़ के बोला। उन्होंने पूछा, भगवान, यह सब जीव कहाँ से पैदा होते हैं?

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Academic Translation

Then Kabandhi Katyayana, having approached, asked: 'O venerable sir, whence indeed do these creatures arise?'

Verse Context

• Srishti (Creation/Cosmogony); Praja (living beings); Karya-karana-bhava (cause and effect)
• Mahavakya: Not directly a Mahavakya, but the question about origins (kuto) implicitly points toward the source which in later verses reveals the identity of the individual self with Universal consciousness, the theme of Mahavakyas like 'Tat Tvam Asi'
• Atharva Veda
• Pippalada (Paippalada) Shakha
• Chandas: Prose (Gadya)