Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,10.5
॥
Devanāgarī
एकविंशत्या आदित्यम् आप्नोति एकविंशः वै इतः असौ आदित्यः द्वाविंशेन परम् आदित्यात् जयति तत् नाकम् तत् विशोकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ekaviṃśatyā ādityam āpnoti ekaviṃśaḥ vai itaḥ asau ādityaḥ dvāviṃśena param ādityāt jayati tat nākam tat viśokam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एकविंशत्याekaviṃśatyāby the twenty-one (ekaviṁśati); by the twenty-first [syllable]; by the twenty-one [steps]
आदित्यम्ādityamthe sun; Āditya
आप्नोतिāpnotiattains; gains
एकविंशःekaviṃśaḥthe twenty-first; consisting of twenty-one
वैvaiverily; indeed
इतःitaḥfrom here; from this world
असौasauthat one; yonder
आदित्यःādityaḥthe sun; Āditya
द्वाविंशेनdvāviṃśenaby the twenty-second (dvāviṁśa); by the twenty-second [syllable]; by the twenty-second [step]
परम्paramwhat is higher; the transcendent
आदित्यात्ādityātout of the sun; from Āditya
जयतिjayatiattains; he conquers
तत्tatthat; this
नाकम्nākamthe heaven of bliss (nāka — 'the painless'); the nāka-heaven; the firmament of the blessed
तत्tatthat; this
विशोकम्viśokamthe sorrowless (vi-śoka); free from grief; griefless
Translation
By twenty-one he reaches the sun — for yonder sun is the twenty-first from here; by the twenty-second he conquers what is above the sun: that is heaven [nāka], that is the sorrowless.
Version
27c70845b0ca · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:40:48 PM UTC
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The ladder is unfolded: ekaviṁśatyā ādityam āpnoti — "by twenty-one he reaches the sun": by the Vedic count the sun is the twenty-first from here (12 months + 5 seasons + 3 worlds = 20, and the sun is the twenty-first): twenty-one syllables of the sāman are twenty-one steps up to the luminary. dvāviṁśena param ādityāj jayati — "by the twenty-second he conquers what is above the sun": and here are the titles of the trans-solar: tan nākam — "that is nāka" (the heaven of bliss; na-aka — "without pain"!) — tad viśokam — "that is the sorrowless".
The twenty-second syllable is that very levelled remainder-akṣara (verse 2.10.3)! The irreducible syllable proves to be the step past the sun: everything countable brings one only as far as the twenty-first, to the luminary; beyond it one is carried by the Imperishable-in-the-remainder. So arithmetic has become soteriology: past the bound of the countable world lies viśoka, the sorrowless: that for which the Īśa prayed to the sun ("withdraw thy rays!") is reached by the twenty-second, uncounted step.