Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,6.1
॥
Devanāgarī
पशुषु पञ्चविधम् सामोपासीत अजाः हिङ्कारः अवयः प्रस्तावः गावः उद्गीथः अश्वः प्रतिहारः पुरुषः निधनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
paśuṣu pañcavidham sāmopāsīta ajāḥ hiṅkāraḥ avayaḥ prastāvaḥ gāvaḥ udgīthaḥ aśvaḥ pratihāraḥ puruṣaḥ nidhanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पशुषुpaśuṣuamong the animals (paśu — domestic cattle); among the beasts; in cattle
पञ्चविधम्pañcavidhamfivefold; of five parts
सामोपासीतsāmopāsītait should be venerated as the sāman; let him contemplate the sāman
अजाःajāḥgoats (aja); the goat-kind; goats
हिङ्कारःhiṅkāraḥhiṅkāra; the opening call hiṅ
अवयःavayaḥsheep (avi); the sheep-kind; sheep
प्रस्तावःprastāvaḥprastāva; the opening part of the sāman
गावःgāvaḥcows (go); the cattle-kind; cattle
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
अश्वःaśvaḥthe horse; the steed
प्रतिहारःpratihāraḥpratihāra; the responding part
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥman; Puruṣa
निधनम्nidhanamnidhana; the conclusion; the dissolution
Translation
In animals one should venerate the fivefold sāman: goats are the hiṅkāra, sheep the prastāva, cows the udgītha, horses the pratihāra, man the nidhana.
Version
a8f9daf8df58 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:38:01 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth field is the living creatures, the flock of the homestead: ajāḥ — goats — the striking-up (the first, the noisy, the undemanding); avayaḥ — sheep — the setting-forth; gāvaḥ — cows — the udgītha (the summit! — the cow stands at the centre of Vedic husbandry and piety: nurse, measure of wealth, sacred being); aśvāḥ — horses — the taking-up (strength and the road); puruṣo nidhanam — man — the cadence: the crown and the sum of the animal series.
The ladder of domesticated life is sung from the goat to man — and man stands in it not as "master from above" but as the closing beat of the same song: the nidhana in which the whole series resolves. The dignity obliges: a cadence gathers and gives meaning to all the preceding beats — man is called to be the meaning of the herd, not merely its owner: a flock without a good finisher is a song broken off in mid-word.