Upanishads · Chāndogya 2,23.2
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रजापतिः लोकान् अभ्यतपत् तेभ्यः अभितप्तेभ्यः त्रयी विद्या संप्रास्रवत् ताम् अभ्यतपत् तस्याः अभितप्तायाः एतानि अक्षराणि संप्रस्रवन्त भूः भुवः स्वः इति
Transliteration (IAST)
prajāpatiḥ lokān abhyatapat tebhyaḥ abhitaptebhyaḥ trayī vidyā saṃprāsravat tām abhyatapat tasyāḥ abhitaptāyāḥ etāni akṣarāṇi saṃprasravanta bhūḥ bhuvaḥ svaḥ iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रजापतिःprajāpatiḥPrajāpati; the lord of creatures
लोकान्lokānworlds; realms
अभ्यतपत्abhyatapatwarmed with tapas; he heated
तेभ्यःtebhyaḥthan they; to them
अभितप्तेभ्यःabhitaptebhyaḥout of those heated; out of those warmed by austerity
त्रयीtrayīthreefold; the triune
विद्याvidyāknowledge; vidyā
संप्रास्रवत्saṃprāsravatit flowed forth (sam-pra-√sru); it ran out; it flowed forth
ताम्tāmit; that
अभ्यतपत्abhyatapatwarmed with tapas; he heated
तस्याःtasyāḥout of her; it
अभितप्तायाःabhitaptāyāḥof the heated; of what was warmed by austerity
एतानिetānithese; all these
अक्षराणिakṣarāṇithe syllables; the letters
संप्रस्रवन्तsaṃprasravantathey flowed forth; they streamed out
भूःbhūḥbhūḥ; the sacred formula of earth
भुवःbhuvaḥbhuvaḥ; the middle sacred formula
स्वःsvaḥsvaḥ; the heavenly call
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Prajāpati brooded upon the worlds; from them, so brooded upon, the threefold knowledge flowed forth. He brooded upon it; from it, so brooded upon, these syllables flowed forth: bhūs, bhuvas, svar.
Version
06ab6f6b9d54 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:50:29 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A cosmogony of essences (a companion to those of the Aitareya and the Taittirīya): prajāpatir lokān abhyatapat — "Prajāpati brooded upon the worlds" (tapas as a hatching!): out of the worlds was pressed the trayī vidyā — the threefold Veda (the texts are the sap of the worlds!); he brooded upon it, and out flowed the vyāhṛtis: bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ — three syllable-worlds (familiar from Taittirīya 1.5!).
The course is a double distillation: worlds → Vedas → syllables: each brooding presses out something more concentrated: the Veda is the essence of the universe, the vyāhṛtis the essence of the Veda. One distillation remains — and the next verse will give the drop of drops: Oṁ. The method of tapas-as-pressing runs all through the śruti: truth is not composed but rendered out of what is, as butter out of milk.