Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,2.13
॥
Devanāgarī
तेन तम् ह बकः दाल्भ्यः विदाम् चकार सः ह नैमिशीयानाम् उद्गाता बभूव सः ह स्म एभ्यः कामान् आगायति
Transliteration (IAST)
tena tam ha bakaḥ dālbhyaḥ vidām cakāra saḥ ha naimiśīyānām udgātā babhūva saḥ ha sma ebhyaḥ kāmān āgāyati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेनtenawith that; by means of this
तम्tamit; that one
हhaindeed; surely
बकःbakaḥBaka; the sage Baka
दाल्भ्यःdālbhyaḥDālbhya; a descendant of Dalbha
विदाम्vidāmknown; known
चकारcakāraHe made; I have performed
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhaindeed; surely
नैमिशीयानाम्naimiśīyānāmof the Naimiśīyas (naimiśīya — dwellers in the Naimiśa forest); of the men of Naimiśa; of the sacrificers of Naimiṣāraṇya
उद्गाताudgātāthe udgātṛ (udgātṛ — the priest-singer of the Sāma-veda); the chanting priest; the priest of the udgītha
बभूवbabhūvabecame; was made
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhaindeed; surely
स्मsmacustomarily; as is known
एभ्यःebhyaḥto them; for them
कामान्kāmāndesires; the desired ends
आगायतिāgāyatihe sings for, he wins by singing (ā-√gai); he chants [the desired] into being; he sings it out
Translation
Baka Dālbhya knew it. He became the udgātṛ of the men of Naimiśa — and he sang out for them [the fulfilment of] their desires.
Version
e06698659011 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
From the archetypes to a living instance: bako dālbhyaḥ — Baka, the son of Dalbha — vidāṁ cakāra — "knew it" (the chief prāṇa): and that knowledge made him the udgātṛ of the sacrificers of the sacred Naimiśa forest: sa ha naimiśīyānām udgātā babhūva — of that legendary place where the seers performed sacrifice for ages (there too, tradition says, the Purāṇas would later be recited!).
sa ha smaibhyaḥ kāmān āgāyati — "he sang their desires for them": āgāyati — "he sang them home, he won them by singing": his udgītha brought the community what it asked — rains, offspring, peace. Here is the singer as the Chāndogya wishes him to be: not a virtuoso of the throat but a knower of the prāṇa, whose chanting is effective because the Life he has come to know sings in it. A community with such an udgātṛ has no unanswered prayers.