Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,7.3
॥
Devanāgarī
श्रोत्रम् एव ऋक् मनः साम तद् एतत् एतस्याम् ऋचि अध्यूढम् साम तस्मात् ऋचि अध्यूढम् साम गीयते श्रोत्रम् एव सा मनः अमः तत् साम
Transliteration (IAST)
śrotram eva ṛk manaḥ sāma tad etat etasyām ṛci adhyūḍham sāma tasmāt ṛci adhyūḍham sāma gīyate śrotram eva sā manaḥ amaḥ tat sāma
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
श्रोत्रम्śrotramthe ear; hearing
एवevaindeed; surely
ऋक्ṛkthe ṛc; a hymn of the Ṛg-veda
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
तद्tadthat; this
एतत्etatthis; all this
एतस्याम्etasyāmin this [one]; upon this
ऋचिṛciin the ṛc; in the hymn
अध्यूढम्adhyūḍhamlaid upon; placed above
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
ऋचिṛciin the ṛc; in the hymn
अध्यूढम्adhyūḍhamlaid upon; placed above
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
गीयतेgīyateis sung; is performed
श्रोत्रम्śrotramthe ear; hearing
एवevaindeed; surely
साsāshe; that one
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
अमःamaḥAma; the gatherer of all
तत्tatthat; this
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
Translation
Hearing is the ṛc, the mind is the sāman. This sāman is laid upon this ṛc; therefore the sāman is sung as laid upon the ṛc. Hearing is "sā", the mind is "ama": that makes "sāma".
Version
dd63f3230211 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
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The third couple: śrotram eva ṛṅ manaḥ sāma — "hearing is the ṛc, the mind is the sāman": the ear is the support, the mind the power above it: the audible becomes heard only when the mind is "laid upon" the ear (let the mind scatter and the ear is empty: everyone knows listening without hearing).
The pairs form a chain of initiation: speech–breath (word and life), eye–ātman (organ and seer), hearing–mind (gate and receiver): man is auscultated storey by storey, as the world was tier by tier. And everywhere the same grammar of two: sāma is a song of two: the Upaniṣad trains us to hear in ourselves not a choir of impersonal functions but marriages, in which every support is given its singer.