Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
समस्तस्य खलु साम्नः उपासनम् साधु यत् खलु साधु तत् साम इति आचक्षते यत् असाधु तत् असाम इति
Transliteration (IAST)
samastasya khalu sāmnaḥ upāsanam sādhu yat khalu sādhu tat sāma iti ācakṣate yat asādhu tat asāma iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
समस्तस्यsamastasyaof the whole (samasta — 'put together'); of all taken together; the whole
खलुkhalutruly; indeed
साम्नःsāmnaḥthe samāna; of the chant
उपासनम्upāsanamveneration; the contemplation
साधुsādhuwell (sādhu — 'good, fitting'); the wholesome; well
यत्yatwhich; that which
खलुkhalutruly; indeed
साधुsādhuwell (sādhu — 'good, fitting'); the wholesome; well
तत्tatthat; this
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
इतिitithus; how
आचक्षतेācakṣatethey call; they explain
यत्yatwhich; that which
असाधुasādhunot well (a-sādhu); the not-good; the unshapely
तत्tatthat; this
असामasāmano sāman (a-sāman — 'unharmoniousness'); discord; no song
इतिitithus; how
Translation
The veneration of the whole sāman is good. What is good, that they call "sāman"; what is not good, that "not-sāman".
Version
73bde24642d3 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second adhyāya opens with a change of scale: samastasya khalu sāmnaḥ upāsanaṁ sādhu — "the veneration of the sāman as a whole is good": the first adhyāya contemplated the heart of the singing, the udgītha; now the subject is the whole sāman, all its members as one body (the following khaṇḍas will take it apart into five and into seven — but first the whole!).
And here is the key to the whole adhyāya, an observation about language: yat khalu sādhu tat sāmety ācakṣate — "what is good they call sāman", yad asādhu tad asāma — "what is not good, not-sāman": in living speech "sāma" means "concord, the good": to say "this is sāman" is to say "this is right". Singing and goodness are one word! Hence the adhyāya's programme: to learn to hear the sāman not in a hymn only but in everything concordant — in the rain, the seasons, the vital powers: a world going in concord is a singing world.