Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,2.6
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ ह मनः उद्गीथम् उपासाम् चक्रिरे तद् ह असुराः पाप्मना विविधुः तस्मात् तेन उभयम् संकल्पयते संकल्पनीयम् च पाप्मना हि एतत् विद्धम्
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ha manaḥ udgītham upāsām cakrire tad ha asurāḥ pāpmanā vividhuḥ tasmāt tena ubhayam saṃkalpayate saṃkalpanīyam ca pāpmanā hi etat viddham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
उद्गीथम्udgīthamthe udgītha; the exalted chant
उपासाम्upāsāmveneration; the contemplation
चक्रिरेcakrirethey made; they became
तद्tadthat; this
हhaindeed; surely
असुराःasurāḥthe asuras; the adversaries of the gods
पाप्मनाpāpmanāby sin; by defilement
विविधुःvividhuḥthey pierced; they struck
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
तेनtenawith that; by means of this
उभयम्ubhayamboth; the double
संकल्पयतेsaṃkalpayatehe forms an intention (sam-√kḷp); he intends; he frames a design
संकल्पनीयम्saṃkalpanīyamworth intending (saṅkalpanīya); a proper intention; the well-conceived
चcaand; as well as
पाप्मनाpāpmanāby sin; by defilement
हिhiindeed; truly
एतत्etatthis; all this
विद्धम्viddhampierced; struck
Translation
Then they began to venerate the mind as the udgītha — but the asuras pierced it with evil. Hence with it men intend both what is worth intending and [what is not]: for it has been pierced with evil.
Version
ae436eccba55 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth and last of the vulnerable positions is manas, the mind: tasmāt tenobhayaṁ saṅkalpayate — "hence with it one intends" both the due and the undue: saṅkalpa, the design, the will of intention, doubles like everything pierced: the same mind builds a temple and a plot, composes a prayer and a revenge.
The review is finished: all five posts — smell, speech, eye, ear, mind — fell alike; the inner faculty proved as vulnerable as the outer (as in the Aitareya the mind missed the food no less than the skin). The upshot is grim: in the whole make-up of man there is no unpierced organ… save one, of which the asuras did not think — and the next verse will present it as a rock.