Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् उतापि आहुः साम्ना एनम् उपागात् इति साधुना एनम् उपागात् इति एव तत् आहुः असाम्ना एनम् उपागात् इति एव तत् आहुः
Transliteration (IAST)
tat utāpi āhuḥ sāmnā enam upāgāt iti sādhunā enam upāgāt iti eva tat āhuḥ asāmnā enam upāgāt iti eva tat āhuḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
उतापिutāpiand likewise; they also say
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
साम्नाsāmnāby the sāman; by harmony
एनम्enamit; of this
उपागात्upāgāthe approached (upa-ā-√gam, aorist); approached; he came to
इतिitithus; how
साधुनाsādhunāfor the meritorious; by the right
एनम्enamit; of this
उपागात्upāgāthe approached (upa-ā-√gam, aorist); approached; he came to
इतिitithus; how
एवevaindeed; surely
तत्tatthat; this
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
असाम्नाasāmnāby the un-sāman; by disharmony
एनम्enamit; of this
उपागात्upāgāthe approached (upa-ā-√gam, aorist); approached; he came to
इतिitithus; how
एवevaindeed; surely
तत्tatthat; this
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
Translation
And they also say: "he approached him with sāman" — that is, he approached rightly; "he approached him with not-sāman" — that is what they say [when it was unseemly].
Version
e4554c822700 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A second testimony of language: sāmnainam upāgāt — "he approached him with sāman" — is said of one who came with goodwill, aptly, in season; asāmnainam upāgāt — "with not-sāman" — of one who came unseasonably, unkindly. The popular idiom preserves the same truth: an approach to a person may be concordant or discordant, and that concord is named by the word for a song.
The Upaniṣad gathers these turns of phrase not out of love of philology: it is showing that the intuition of sāma-concord is diffused through the very speech of the people: everyone always knew that life is sung — that deeds have a harmony and a falseness, as notes do. It remains to raise this knowledge from idiom into contemplation: the next verse will carry the series on to exclamations, and then the adhyāya will begin applying the fivefold concord to the whole universe.