Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,17.1
॥
Devanāgarī
पृथिवी हिङ्कारः अन्तरिक्षम् प्रस्तावः द्यौः उद्गीथः दिशः प्रतिहारः समुद्रः निधनम् एताः शक्वर्यः लोकेषु प्रोताः
Transliteration (IAST)
pṛthivī hiṅkāraḥ antarikṣam prastāvaḥ dyauḥ udgīthaḥ diśaḥ pratihāraḥ samudraḥ nidhanam etāḥ śakvaryaḥ lokeṣu protāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पृथिवीpṛthivīthe earth; the earthly world
हिङ्कारःhiṅkāraḥhiṅkāra; the opening call hiṅ
अन्तरिक्षम्antarikṣamthe intervening space; the mid-region
प्रस्तावःprastāvaḥprastāva; the opening part of the sāman
द्यौःdyauḥthe sky; the heavenly world
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
दिशःdiśaḥthe quarters of the sky; the directions
प्रतिहारःpratihāraḥpratihāra; the responding part
समुद्रःsamudraḥthe ocean; the sea
निधनम्nidhanamnidhana; the conclusion; the dissolution
एताःetāḥthese; of these
शक्वर्यःśakvaryaḥthe śakvarīs (śakvarī — the 'Mighty' sāmans); the śakvarī chants; the śakvarī sāmans
लोकेषुlokeṣuin the worlds; in the abodes
प्रोताःprotāḥinterwoven; woven in
Translation
The earth is the hiṅkāra, the mid-region the prastāva, heaven the udgītha, the quarters of space the pratihāra, the ocean the nidhana. These śakvarīs are woven into the worlds.
Version
194af0b733c6 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:44:39 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The seventh melody is the śakvarī (in the plural: "the Mighty ones" — the sāmans set to the mahānāmnī verses) — woven into the worlds: earth the striking-up, the mid-region the setting-forth, heaven the lifting-up, the quarters the taking-up, the ocean the cadence: the spatial universe entire — from the solid ground to the rim of the waters.
The series of worlds here differs from that of 2.2: instead of fire and sun we have the quarters of space and the ocean: not the luminaries but the containers themselves: the śakvarīs sing not the world's contents but its halls. And the cadence is the ocean: all expanses resolve into the sea (as the rivers did in 2.4): space, like a song, has somewhere to flow into.