Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,10.7
॥
Devanāgarī
तम् जाया उवाच हन्त पत्ते इमे एव कुल्माषाः इति तान् खादित्वा अमुम् यज्ञम् विततम् एयाय
Transliteration (IAST)
tam jāyā uvāca hanta patte ime eva kulmāṣāḥ iti tān khāditvā amum yajñam vitatam eyāya
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तम्tamit; that one
जायाjāyāthe wife; the wife
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
हन्तhantaso then; come now
पत्तेpatteO lord, O husband (pati, vocative); O husband; my lord
इमेimethese; the present
एवevaindeed; surely
कुल्माषाःkulmāṣāḥthe boiled beans; the coarse bean-fare
इतिitithus; how
तान्tānof them; those
खादित्वाkhāditvāhaving eaten; having consumed
अमुम्amumthat one; another
यज्ञम्yajñamsacrifice; the sacrifice
विततम्vitatamalready under way (vi-tata — 'spread out', in progress); in progress; spread out
एयायeyāyahe went (ā-√i, perfect); he went; made his way
Translation
His wife said to him: "Why, my lord, here are those very beans!" Having eaten them, he went off to that sacrifice, which was already under way.
Version
de5d16426e4a · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:31:57 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The hour of the thing laid by: taṁ jāyovāca hanta pata ima eva kulmāṣā iti — "here, husband, are those very beans!": what was set aside yesterday (verse 1.10.5) has become today's provision for the journey: Āṭikī's foresight feeds Uṣasti's plan. tān khāditvāmuṁ yajñaṁ vitatam eyāya — "having eaten, he went to that sacrifice, [already] spread out" (vitata — the rite in full swing: he is too late for the choosing of the priests — every place is taken!).
A handful of beans is the whole logistics of a great turn of fortune: upon it Uṣasti will reach the royal altar and take what is his. The Upaniṣad is quiet in its moral, but the moral is audible: destinies turn upon small things — upon a handful saved, upon a wife's foresight, upon the resolve to go where the rite is "already spread out" and nobody expects you. Grace likes to arrive at the last moment — and through the hands of the one beside you.