Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,10.3
॥
Devanāgarī
उद्गीथः इति त्र्यक्षरम् उपद्रवः इति चतुरक्षरम् त्रिभिः त्रिभिः समम् भवति अक्षरम् अतिशिष्यते त्र्यक्षरम् तत् समम्
Transliteration (IAST)
udgīthaḥ iti tryakṣaram upadravaḥ iti caturakṣaram tribhiḥ tribhiḥ samam bhavati akṣaram atiśiṣyate tryakṣaram tat samam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
इतिitithus; how
त्र्यक्षरम्tryakṣaramof three syllables; of three syllables
उपद्रवःupadravaḥupadrava; the approaching part; the approach
इतिitithus; how
चतुरक्षरम्caturakṣaramtetrasyllabic; of four syllables
त्रिभिःtribhiḥwith the three; three by three
त्रिभिःtribhiḥwith the three; three by three
समम्samamequal; the equalized
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
अक्षरम्akṣaramthe syllable; the letter
अतिशिष्यतेatiśiṣyateit remains over (ati-√śiṣ); it is in excess; it stands as a surplus
त्र्यक्षरम्tryakṣaramof three syllables; of three syllables
तत्tatthat; this
समम्samamequal; the equalized
Translation
"udgītha" is three syllables, "upadrava" is four syllables: three against three is equal, one syllable remains over; [but] being itself of three syllables, it too is equal: that is equal.
Version
66b10533036c · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:40:48 PM UTC
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The third pair: ud-gī-tha, three; u-pa-dra-va, four: tribhis tribhiḥ samaṁ bhavati — "three against three is equal": akṣaram atiśiṣyate — "one syllable remains over": and the resolution is virtuosic: try-akṣaram — [spelt out] "a-kṣa-ram" is itself three syllables! — tat samam: the surplus proves to be equal, because the very word for "syllable" has three syllables.
A remainder made equal by the name of the remainder is a jewel of Vedic thought: what will not fit into the count is weighed by the word for it — and so enters the concord. Every "extra syllable" of existence (the irreducible remainder that juts out of every system) has a name — akṣara, "the imperishable"! — and in that name it is equal to the whole. The irreducible does not break the order: it is precisely the hint of the Imperishable within the order.