Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
लोकेषु पञ्चविधम् सामोपासीत पृथिवी हिङ्कारः अग्निः प्रस्तावः अन्तरिक्षम् उद्गीथः आदित्यः प्रतिहारः द्यौः निधनम् इति ऊर्ध्वेषु
Transliteration (IAST)
lokeṣu pañcavidham sāmopāsīta pṛthivī hiṅkāraḥ agniḥ prastāvaḥ antarikṣam udgīthaḥ ādityaḥ pratihāraḥ dyauḥ nidhanam iti ūrdhveṣu
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
लोकेषुlokeṣuin the worlds; in the abodes
पञ्चविधम्pañcavidhamfivefold (pañca-vidha); of five kinds; having five members
सामोपासीतsāmopāsītait should be venerated as the sāman; let him contemplate the sāman
पृथिवीpṛthivīthe earth; the earthly world
हिङ्कारःhiṅkāraḥthe hiṁkāra (hiṁ-kāra — the opening of the sāman); the prelude; the initial 'hiṁ'
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
प्रस्तावःprastāvaḥthe prastāva (prastāva — the opening chant); the opening chant; the introduction
अन्तरिक्षम्antarikṣamthe intervening space; the mid-region
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
आदित्यःādityaḥthe sun; Āditya
प्रतिहारःpratihāraḥthe pratihāra (pratihāra — the response); the response; the responding part
द्यौःdyauḥthe sky; the heavenly world
निधनम्nidhanamthe nidhana (nidhana — the conclusion); the cadence; the close
इतिitithus; how
ऊर्ध्वेषुūrdhveṣuin the ascending [order] (ūrdhva); from below upward; in rising sequence
Translation
In the worlds one should venerate the fivefold sāman: the earth is the hiṅkāra, fire the prastāva, the mid-region the udgītha, the sun the pratihāra, heaven the nidhana. This is in the ascending [order].
Version
d005fc7bc8f0 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A series of fivefold contemplations begins. The five members of the sāman are like the five acts of a song: hiṅkāra — the striking-up (the lowing "hiṁ"), prastāva — the setting-forth, udgītha — the lifting-up, pratihāra — the taking-up, nidhana — the close, the cadence. And the first field of superimposition is the worlds themselves: earth is the striking-up, fire the setting-forth, the mid-region the lifting-up, the sun the taking-up, heaven the finale: the universe, read from below upward, is one song sung through!
The method of the series (it will occupy khaṇḍas 2–7): take a living process or sequence and hear in it the five acts of singing: to train eye and ear to recognise liturgical structure everywhere. These are not "poetic comparisons": for the Upaniṣad the structure of a song and the structure of the world are one structure (the first adhyāya showed it: the world is the song of Oṁ); a contemplator of the fivefold tunes himself to the beat by which everything goes.