Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,11.1
॥
Devanāgarī
मनः हिङ्कारः वाक् प्रस्तावः चक्षुः उद्गीथः श्रोत्रम् प्रतिहारः प्राणः निधनम् एतत् गायत्रम् प्राणेषु प्रोतम्
Transliteration (IAST)
manaḥ hiṅkāraḥ vāk prastāvaḥ cakṣuḥ udgīthaḥ śrotram pratihāraḥ prāṇaḥ nidhanam etat gāyatram prāṇeṣu protam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
हिङ्कारःhiṅkāraḥhiṅkāra; the opening call hiṅ
वाक्vākspeech; the word
प्रस्तावःprastāvaḥprastāva; the opening part of the sāman
चक्षुःcakṣuḥthe eye; sight
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
श्रोत्रम्śrotramthe ear; hearing
प्रतिहारःpratihāraḥpratihāra; the responding part
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
निधनम्nidhanamnidhana; the conclusion; the dissolution
एतत्etatthis; all this
गायत्रम्gāyatramthe gāyatra (gāyatra — the sāman set to the gāyatrī metre); the gāyatra chant; the gāyatra sāman
प्राणेषुprāṇeṣuin the prāṇas; among the vital powers
प्रोतम्protamit is woven through (prota, from √ve — 'to weave'); it is interwoven; it is woven in
Translation
The mind is the hiṅkāra, speech the prastāva, the eye the udgītha, hearing the pratihāra, breath the nidhana: this is the gāyatra [sāman], woven into the vital powers.
Version
56b794fa1ba2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:40:48 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A gallery of the great sāmans begins (khaṇḍas 11–21): each named melody of the Sāma-veda finds its body in the world. The first is the gāyatra (the melody set to the gāyatrī metre, holiest of measures): mano hiṅkāraḥ — the mind is the striking-up (thought goes before all!), speech the setting-forth, the eye the lifting-up, hearing the taking-up, prāṇo nidhanam — breath the close: etad gāyatraṁ prāṇeṣu protam — "this gāyatra is woven (protam — like a thread in cloth!) into the prāṇas".
Its difference from 2.7 is subtle and significant: there the prāṇas formed an upward ladder (breath the striking-up… the mind the finale); here the gāyatra begins with the mind and ends in the breath: the holiest melody runs from thought to life: a design resolves in breathing, and word and perception lie between. "Woven through" (√ve — to weave!) is the key word of the series: the sāmans are not "compared" with things but woven into them, as weft into warp: the world carries the melodies in its very fabric.