Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,5.1
॥
Devanāgarī
ऋतुषु पञ्चविधम् सामोपासीत वसन्तः हिङ्कारः ग्रीष्मः प्रस्तावः वर्षाः उद्गीथः शरत् प्रतिहारः हेमन्तः निधनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ṛtuṣu pañcavidham sāmopāsīta vasantaḥ hiṅkāraḥ grīṣmaḥ prastāvaḥ varṣāḥ udgīthaḥ śarat pratihāraḥ hemantaḥ nidhanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ऋतुषुṛtuṣuin the seasons (ṛtu); in the seasons of the year; in the times of the year
पञ्चविधम्pañcavidhamfivefold; of five parts
सामोपासीतsāmopāsītait should be venerated as the sāman; let him contemplate the sāman
वसन्तःvasantaḥspring (vasanta); the spring season; spring
हिङ्कारःhiṅkāraḥhiṅkāra; the opening call hiṅ
ग्रीष्मःgrīṣmaḥsummer (grīṣma); the hot season; summer
प्रस्तावःprastāvaḥprastāva; the opening part of the sāman
वर्षाःvarṣāḥthe rains (varṣāḥ — the rainy season); the season of downpours; the wet season
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
शरत्śaratautumn (śarad); the autumn season; autumn
प्रतिहारःpratihāraḥpratihāra; the responding part
हेमन्तःhemantaḥwinter (hemanta); the winter season; the pre-winter
निधनम्nidhanamnidhana; the conclusion; the dissolution
Translation
In the seasons one should venerate the fivefold sāman: spring is the hiṅkāra, summer the prastāva, the rains the udgītha, autumn the pratihāra, winter the nidhana.
Version
e879211e6889 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:38:01 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth field is the year: vasantaḥ — spring — the striking-up (the first "hiṁ" of awakening); grīṣmaḥ — summer — the setting-forth (the gathering of the heat); varṣāḥ — the rainy season — the lifting-up (the climax of the Indian year: the earth lives not by summer but by the downpours!); śarat — autumn — the taking-up (the harvest, the earth's response); hemantaḥ — winter — the cadence (a dying away into rest).
The year is the slowest of the series' songs: a strophe as long as nature's life. Mark where the udgītha falls: in the rains, in the giving: the year's summit, like a song's, lies not in strength (summer) but in bounty (the downpours). For one who hears the year so, the calendar turns into a score: each season is not "weather" but a beat, and to live by the seasons is to sing in concord with the year, late neither for the striking-up nor for the cadence.