Upanishads · Aitareya 1,3.14
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मात् इदन्द्रः नाम इदन्द्रः ह वै नाम तम् इदन्द्रम् सन्तम् इन्द्रः इति आचक्षते परोक्षेण परोक्षप्रियाः इव हि देवाः परोक्षप्रियाः इव हि देवाः
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmāt idandraḥ nāma idandraḥ ha vai nāma tam idandram santam indraḥ iti ācakṣate parokṣeṇa parokṣapriyāḥ iva hi devāḥ parokṣapriyāḥ iva hi devāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
इदन्द्रःidandraḥIdandra (idam-dra — 'He who sees This'); 'the one who saw this'; Idandra
नामnāmaby name; so called
इदन्द्रःidandraḥIdandra (idam-dra — 'He who sees This'); 'the one who saw this'; Idandra
हhaindeed; surely
वैvaiverily; truly
नामnāmaby name; so called
तम्tamhim; that one
इदन्द्रम्idandramIdandra; the one who sees this
सन्तम्santambeing; who is
इन्द्रःindraḥIndra; the lord
इतिitithus; so
आचक्षतेācakṣatethey call; they say
परोक्षेणparokṣeṇaindirectly (parokṣa — 'beyond the eye'); obliquely; under a veil
परोक्षप्रियाःparokṣapriyāḥlovers of the hidden (parokṣa-priya); fond of the veiled; who love the secret
इवivaas it were; as though
हिhiindeed; truly
देवाःdevāḥthe gods; the divine powers
परोक्षप्रियाःparokṣapriyāḥlovers of the hidden (parokṣa-priya); fond of the veiled; who love the secret
इवivaas it were; as though
हिhiindeed; truly
देवाःdevāḥthe gods; the divine powers
Translation
Therefore His name is Idandra; verily His name is Idandra. Him, who is Idandra, they call indirectly Indra: for the gods love, as it were, the hidden; the gods love, as it were, the hidden.
Version
add2933eb70b · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
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The close of the first chapter is an etymological gem: the cry idam adarśam — "This I have seen!" — has frozen into a name: idam-dra — Idandra, "He who sees This"; but people call him Indra: parokṣeṇa — "indirectly, obliquely": parokṣa-priyā iva hi devāḥ — "for the gods love, as it were, the hidden" — a maxim repeated twice, like a seal.
"The gods love the hidden" is a key to the very language of the sacred: the divine is not put on open display — it turns its gaze a little aside, speaks by a name that hints, lives behind a veil: the name has been rubbed down past recognition precisely because it carries too direct a testimony. Hence the whole poetics of revelation: parables, allegories, cipher-names: direct light dazzles — the Lover of the hidden lets Himself be recognised rather than inspected (the Kena: "He appeared — and was not recognised"; the Īśa: "the face is covered with gold").
For the reader there is also a method of reading the scriptures here: behind every loud name of the gods, look for the worn-down cry of a first recognition. Indra of thunders and battles turns out to be Idandra — He who in the first man exclaimed "I have seen This!": the whole of mythology is the cooled lava of living encounters, and the Upaniṣad teaches us to heat the names back to their original fire.