Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,8.4
॥
Devanāgarī
का साम्नः गतिः इति स्वरः इति ह उवाच स्वरस्य का गतिः इति प्राणः इति ह उवाच प्राणस्य का गतिः इति अन्नम् इति ह उवाच अन्नस्य का गतिः इति आपः इति ह उवाच
Transliteration (IAST)
kā sāmnaḥ gatiḥ iti svaraḥ iti ha uvāca svarasya kā gatiḥ iti prāṇaḥ iti ha uvāca prāṇasya kā gatiḥ iti annam iti ha uvāca annasya kā gatiḥ iti āpaḥ iti ha uvāca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
काkāwhat is; what
साम्नःsāmnaḥthe samāna; of the chant
गतिःgatiḥthe issue, the support (gati — 'course and refuge'); the way and ground; whither it goes up
इतिitithus; how
स्वरःsvaraḥsvara; the sounding tone
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
स्वरस्यsvarasyasvara; of the sounding tone
काkāwhat is; what
गतिःgatiḥthe issue, the support (gati — 'course and refuge'); the way and ground; whither it goes up
इतिitithus; how
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
प्राणस्यprāṇasyaof the prāṇa; of the vital breath
काkāwhat is; what
गतिःgatiḥthe issue, the support (gati — 'course and refuge'); the way and ground; whither it goes up
इतिitithus; how
अन्नम्annamfood; food
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
अन्नस्यannasyaof food; of food
काkāwhat is; what
गतिःgatiḥthe issue, the support (gati — 'course and refuge'); the way and ground; whither it goes up
इतिitithus; how
आपःāpaḥthe waters; drops of water
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
Translation
"What is the going of the sāman?" — "Sound," said he. "What is the going of sound?" — "Breath." — "What is the going of breath?" — "Food." — "What is the going of food?" — "The waters."
Version
46bf4ccac109 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The hunt has begun: kā sāmno gatir iti — "what is the gati of the sāman?": gati is "course, issue, resort-support": whither does it go up, upon what does it stand? And Dālbhya answers with a chain, link by link: sāman → svara (sound: singing stands upon sound), sound → prāṇa (breath: sound is shaped breath), breath → annam (food: breath feeds upon food), food → āpaḥ (the waters: food is born of water).
Every answer is right — and every one breeds the next question: a chain of supports cannot hang in the air: the query "and that stands on what?" is the auger with which the Upaniṣads bore through all the intermediate storeys (the same device as Bhṛgu's ladder in the Taittirīya). Let us see where Dālbhya will halt — and why his halt will prove premature.