Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,9.8
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ यत् प्रथमास्तमिते तत् निधनम् तत् अस्य पितरो अन्वायत्ताः तस्मात् तान् निदधति निधनभाजिनः हि एतस्य साम्नः एवम् खलु अमुम् आदित्यम् सप्तविधम् सामोपास्ते
Transliteration (IAST)
atha yat prathamāstamite tat nidhanam tat asya pitaro anvāyattāḥ tasmāt tān nidadhati nidhanabhājinaḥ hi etasya sāmnaḥ evam khalu amum ādityam saptavidham sāmopāste
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
यत्yatwhich; that which
प्रथमास्तमितेprathamāstamiteat the first setting (prathama-astamita); as soon as it has set; at the onset of sunset
तत्tatthat; this
निधनम्nidhanamnidhana; the conclusion; the dissolution
तत्tatthat; this
अस्यasyaof this; it
पितरोpitarothe fathers (pitṛ); the fathers; the departed fathers
अन्वायत्ताःanvāyattāḥbound up; dependent
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
तान्tānof them; those
निदधतिnidadhatithey lay [them] down (ni-√dhā); they lay [them] in the earth; they commit [them to the ground]
निधनभाजिनःnidhanabhājinaḥsharers in the nidhana (nidhana-bhājin); partakers of the conclusion; having a share in the cadence
हिhiindeed; truly
एतस्यetasyaof this; from this
साम्नःsāmnaḥthe samāna; of the chant
एवम्evamthus; in this way
खलुkhalutruly; indeed
अमुम्amumthat one; another
आदित्यम्ādityamthe sun; Āditya
सप्तविधम्saptavidhamsevenfold; of seven parts
सामोपास्तेsāmopāstehe venerates as the sāman; he contemplates the sāman
Translation
Now what is at the first setting — that is the nidhana; with it the fathers are bound up; therefore they are laid down [in the earth]: for they have a share in the nidhana of this sāman. Thus indeed does one venerate yonder sun as the sevenfold sāman.
Version
8599366ea560 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:38:01 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The seventh beat is the cadence: prathamāstamite tan nidhanam — "at the first setting is the nidhana"; tad asya pitaro 'nvāyattāḥ — "with it the fathers are bound up": tasmāt tān nidadhati — "therefore they are laid down (ni-dadhati!)" — in the earth: the root ni-√dhā binds the song's close to burial: nidhana is a "laying down", and the departed are laid down at the sunset of their day.
So the day-sāman has been sung out: the twilight of the cattle — the dawn of men — the morning of the birds — the noon of the gods — the gestation — the taking of cover — and the sunset laying-down of the fathers: a single day has held all the kinds of beings and the whole arc of existence, from a lowing to a grave — and all of it is a song in which death is not a break but a cadence: the resolution of a melody, laid down in concord. One who venerates the sun so will meet his own sunset as a musician does — not as a fall but as a nidhana: an ending that keeps the harmony.