Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ उतापि आहुः साम नो बत इति यत् साधु भवति साधु बत इति एव तत् आहुः असाम नो बत इति यत् असाधु भवति असाधु बत इति एव तत् आहुः
Transliteration (IAST)
atha utāpi āhuḥ sāma no bata iti yat sādhu bhavati sādhu bata iti eva tat āhuḥ asāma no bata iti yat asādhu bhavati asādhu bata iti eva tat āhuḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
उतापिutāpiand likewise; they also say
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
नोnoto us; for us
बतbataoh! (bata — an exclamation); ah!; alas! or hurrah!
इतिitithus; how
यत्yatwhich; that which
साधुsādhuthe good; the right
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
साधुsādhuthe good; the right
बतbataoh! (bata — an exclamation); ah!; alas! or hurrah!
इतिitithus; how
एवevaindeed; surely
तत्tatthat; this
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
असामasāmathe non-sāman; disharmony; devoid of harmony
नोnoto us; for us
बतbataoh! (bata — an exclamation); ah!; alas! or hurrah!
इतिitithus; how
यत्yatwhich; that which
असाधुasādhuthe not-good; the wrong
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
असाधुasādhuthe not-good; the wrong
बतbataoh! (bata — an exclamation); ah!; alas! or hurrah!
इतिitithus; how
एवevaindeed; surely
तत्tatthat; this
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
Translation
And they also say: "sāman for us, indeed!" — when something is good, that is, "good indeed!"; "not-sāman for us, indeed!" — when something is not good, that is, "not good indeed!"
Version
2e6ff8cbfe0c · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third testimony is the exclamations: sāma no bateti — "sāman for us, indeed!" is cried at good fortune: "there's concord!"; asāma no bata — "not-sāman for us!" at misfortune: "there's discord!". Joy and grief are uttered by the people in musical terms: fortune is when life has come into tune, calamity when it has gone false.
The threefold testimony of language is now gathered (names, turns of phrase, exclamations) — and the conclusion has ripened: sāman is the name of universal concord, not of a genre of chants alone; and a singer is a craftsman of concord as such. He who venerates the sāman as the good (the next verse) tunes not his voice but his life: the adhyāya opens a science of living in harmony, where every part — from dawn to winter — knows its own beat.