Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सः एषः रसानाम् रसतमः परमः परार्ध्यः अष्टमः यत् उद्गीथः
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ eṣaḥ rasānām rasatamaḥ paramaḥ parārdhyaḥ aṣṭamaḥ yat udgīthaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
रसानाम्rasānāmof the saps; of the essences
रसतमःrasatamaḥthe most essential (rasa-tama — superlative); the innermost of essences; the sap of saps
परमःparamaḥthe highest; the transcendent
परार्ध्यःparārdhyaḥworthy of the highest place (parārdhya); throne-worthy; of the loftiest rank
अष्टमःaṣṭamaḥthe eighth (aṣṭama); the eighth [step]; in the eighth place
यत्yatwhich; that which
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
Translation
It is the most essential of essences, the highest, worthy of the highest place, the eighth — this udgītha.
Version
e79b03a533c2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
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The summing-up of the ladder: sa eṣa rasānāṁ rasatamaḥ — "the most essential of essences": a superlative of rasa: not one of the pressings but the pressing of the pressings; paramaḥ — the highest; parārdhyaḥ — "worthy of the higher side", of the throne; aṣṭamaḥ — "the eighth": the eighth step from beings (beings — earth — waters — plants — man — speech — ṛc — sāman — udgītha), a count that stresses the fullness of the road traversed.
By enthroning the udgītha (and in it Oṁ) over all that exists, the Upaniṣad has effected the reversal it will repeat in a hundred ways: the most "ephemeral" thing — a sound, a breath, a chant — proves the most substantial; the dense is only the sediment of the subtle. The world rests not upon stone but upon a song; and whoever wishes to touch the world's foundation, let him touch the syllable in which it is sung.