Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,3.9
॥
Devanāgarī
यस्याम् ऋचि ताम् ऋचम् यत् आर्षेयम् तम् ऋषिम् याम् देवताम् अभिष्टोष्यन् स्यात् ताम् देवताम् उपधावेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
yasyām ṛci tām ṛcam yat ārṣeyam tam ṛṣim yām devatām abhiṣṭoṣyan syāt tām devatām upadhāvet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यस्याम्yasyāmin which; in which
ऋचिṛciin the ṛc; in the hymn
ताम्tāmit; that
ऋचम्ṛcamthe ṛc; the hymn
यत्yatwhich; that which
आर्षेयम्ārṣeyamthat which belongs to a seer (ārṣeya — 'of a ṛṣi'); the seer-lineage; the line of the seer
तम्tamit; that one
ऋषिम्ṛṣimby the ṛṣi; the sage
याम्yāmwhich; that
देवताम्devatāmthe deity; the divine power
अभिष्टोष्यन्abhiṣṭoṣyanabout to sing praise (abhi-√stu); intending to laud; preparing to chant
स्यात्syātcould be; it would become
ताम्tāmit; that
देवताम्devatāmthe deity; the divine power
उपधावेत्upadhāvetlet him resort; let him turn to
Translation
to whatever ṛc, to that ṛc let him resort; to whatever seer, to that seer; whatever deity he intends to praise, to that deity let him resort.
Version
48863aac738a · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list of refuges grows: yasyām ṛci — to the ṛc (the verse on which the melody is set), yad ārṣeyam — to the seer (the ṛṣi to whom the verse was revealed!), yāṁ devatām — to the deity (the addressee of the praise). Before singing, the singer makes a threefold bow: to the text, to its first seer, and to its Addressee.
The middle link is especially precious — the seer: a hymn is inseparable from the man who first heard it; to resort to the seer is to join the living chain of transmission (that very paramparā with which the Muṇḍaka opened): a verse without its seer is an orphan, a singer who does not bow to the seer is an impostor. So the rite becomes a school of grateful memory: every chanting is a roll-call with a whole genealogy of revelation.