Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,8.2
॥
Devanāgarī
यत् उद् इति सः उद्गीथः यत् प्रतीति सः प्रतिहारः यत् उपेति सः उपद्रवः यत् नीति तत् निधनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yat ud iti saḥ udgīthaḥ yat pratīti saḥ pratihāraḥ yat upeti saḥ upadravaḥ yat nīti tat nidhanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्yatwhich; that which
उद्udUd; the raised
इतिitithus; how
सःsaḥhe; that one
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
यत्yatwhich; that which
प्रतीतिpratītiit comes to meet; he returns
सःsaḥhe; that one
प्रतिहारःpratihāraḥpratihāra; the responding part
यत्yatwhich; that which
उपेतिupetiit draws near; it approaches
सःsaḥhe; that one
उपद्रवःupadravaḥthe upadrava ('the running up' — the member before the cadence); the approach [to the close]; the run-up
यत्yatwhich; that which
नीतिnītiit leads down; it concludes
तत्tatthat; this
निधनम्nidhanamnidhana; the conclusion; the dissolution
Translation
whatever "ud", that is the udgītha; whatever "prati", that is the pratihāra; whatever "upa", that is the upadrava; whatever "ni", that is the nidhana.
Version
c64bee2bb159 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:38:01 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The lexicon continues: yad ud iti sa udgīthaḥ — "whatever 'ud' is the udgītha" (upward!), yat pratīti sa pratihāraḥ — "whatever 'prati' is the pratihāra" (toward, in answer!), yad upeti sa upadravaḥ — "whatever 'upa' is the upadrava" (drawing near!), yan nīti tan nidhanam — "whatever 'ni' is the nidhana" (down, to the close!).
Seven Sanskrit prefixes are seven members of the sāman: grammar itself turns out to be a score! The prefixes are vectors of movement (up, toward, nearer, down) — the very gestures out of which singing is built: language moves along the same paths as a melody. For a speaker this is a revolution: every "ud-" or "ni-" he utters is a note; a man who knows this can no longer chatter — he has heard that he speaks in song even when he is asking for bread.