Keneṣitam: by whom is the mind sent?
केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति युक्तः ।
केनेषितां वाचमिमां वदन्ति चक्षुः श्रोत्रं क उ देवो युनक्ति ॥
keneṣitaṃ patati preṣitaṃ manaḥ kena prāṇaḥ prathamaḥ praiti yuktaḥ |
keneṣitāṃ vācamimāṃ vadanti cakṣuḥ śrotraṃ ka u devo yunakti ||
Translation
Impelled by whom, sent by whom, does the mind fly out? Yoked by whom does the first breath go forth? Impelled by whom do people speak this speech? What god yokes the eye and the ear?
Meaning
The Kena Upaniṣad, from the Sāmaveda tradition, is named after its first word, kena, "by whom?". It opens with a string of questions about what drives the mind, breath, speech, sight and hearing.
The answer follows in the next verse: that which is "the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech of speech" — the self that cannot itself be seen, because it is what does the seeing.
The image of yoking (yuj) is old and vivid: the senses are horses, and something unseen holds the reins.
Word by word · 18 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| केन | kena | by whom? (instr. sg.) |
| इषितम् | iṣitam | impelled, willed (nom. sg. n.) |
| पतति | patati | flies, falls (on its object) |
| प्रेषितम् | preṣitam | sent forth (nom. sg. n.) |
| मनः | manaḥ | the mind (nom. sg. n.) |
| प्राणः | prāṇaḥ | breath, life (nom. sg. m.) |
| प्रथमः | prathamaḥ | first (nom. sg. m.) |
| प्रैति | praiti | goes forth (pra + √i) |
| युक्तः | yuktaḥ | yoked, set to work (nom. sg. m.) |
| इषिताम् | iṣitām | impelled (acc. sg. f.) |
| वाचम् | vācam | speech (acc. sg. f.) |
| इमाम् | imām | this (acc. sg. f.) |
| वदन्ति | vadanti | they speak |
| चक्षुः | cakṣuḥ | the eye (nom./acc. sg. n.) |
| श्रोत्रम् | śrotram | the ear (nom./acc. sg. n.) |
| कः उ | kaḥ u | who, then? |
| देवः | devaḥ | god (nom. sg. m.) |
| युनक्ति | yunakti | yokes, sets to work (3rd sg. present of √yuj) |
Pronunciation
keneṣitaṃ patati preṣitaṃ manaḥ kena prāṇaḥ prathamaḥ praiti yuktaḥ |
keneṣitāṃ vācamimāṃ vadanti cakṣuḥ śrotraṃ ka u devo yunakti ||
- keneṣitaṃ = kena + iṣitaṃ: ke-ne-ṣi-taṃ.
- praiti: the diphthong ai as in "aisle", prai-ti.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).
- ṃ (anusvāra) is a nasal: it sounds like m before p/b/m, n before t/d, ṅ before k/g, and a nasalised vowel before s/ś/h.