Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
सः यः एतत् एवम् विद्वान् साधु साम इति उपास्ते अभ्याशः ह यत् एनम् साधवः धर्माः आ च गच्छेयुः उप च नमेयुः
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ yaḥ etat evam vidvān sādhu sāma iti upāste abhyāśaḥ ha yat enam sādhavaḥ dharmāḥ ā ca gaccheyuḥ upa ca nameyuḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एतत्etatthis; all this
एवम्evamthus; in this way
विद्वान्vidvānknowing; wise
साधुsādhuthe good; the right
सामsāmathe sāman; the chant
इतिitithus; how
उपास्तेupāstehe venerates; beholds
अभ्याशःabhyāśaḥsoon, at any moment (abhyāśa — 'near'); shortly; it will not be long
हhaindeed; surely
यत्yatwhich; that which
एनम्enamit; of this
साधवःsādhavaḥthe good; the righteous
धर्माःdharmāḥthe dharmas (dharma — here: good qualities and observances); the virtues; the good ordinances
आātowards; hither
चcaand; as well as
गच्छेयुःgaccheyuḥthey would come; they would reach
उपupatowards; close at hand
चcaand; as well as
नमेयुःnameyuḥthey would bow (optative of √nam); they would do homage; they would incline
Translation
He who, knowing this thus, venerates the sāman as the good — to him, soon enough, good dharmas will come and bow down before him.
Version
9460a205b680 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fruit of contemplating the whole: sa ya etad evaṁ vidvān sādhu sāmety upāste — "he who venerates the sāman as the good" — abhyāśo ha yad enaṁ sādhavo dharmā ā ca gaccheyur upa ca nameyuḥ — "soon good dharmas will come to him and bow down".
The image is striking: dharmas — good qualities, virtues, right ways — are presented as living beings who come of themselves and make obeisance! Virtues are not squeezed out one at a time — they flock to concord as birds to their own tree: to a man who has tuned his heart to sāma-goodness, good qualities arrive of themselves and serve him. The secret of moral growth is not the chase after separate virtues but the tuning of the ground-tone: be concord, and everything concordant will own you as its sovereign.