Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्य ये प्राञ्चः रश्मयः ताः एव अस्य प्राच्यः मधुनाड्यः ऋचः एव मधुकृतः ऋग्वेदः एव पुष्पम् ताः अमृताः आपः ताः वै एताः ऋचः
Transliteration (IAST)
tasya ye prāñcaḥ raśmayaḥ tāḥ eva asya prācyaḥ madhunāḍyaḥ ṛcaḥ eva madhukṛtaḥ ṛgvedaḥ eva puṣpam tāḥ amṛtāḥ āpaḥ tāḥ vai etāḥ ṛcaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्यtasyait; concerning this
येyethose who; they who
प्राञ्चःprāñcaḥthe eastern; turned forward
रश्मयःraśmayaḥthe rays; the beams
ताःtāḥthey; those; these
एवevaindeed; surely
अस्यasyaof this; it
प्राच्यःprācyaḥthe eastern; flowing eastward
मधुनाड्यःmadhunāḍyaḥthe honey-veins (madhu-nāḍī); the nectar-channels; the honey-bearing vessels
ऋचःṛcaḥthe ṛcs; the hymns of the Ṛg-veda
एवevaindeed; surely
मधुकृतःmadhukṛtaḥthe bees (madhu-kṛt — 'honey-makers'); the makers of honey; the honey-gatherers
ऋग्वेदःṛgvedaḥthe Ṛg-veda; the knowledge of hymns
एवevaindeed; surely
पुष्पम्puṣpamthe flower (puṣpa); the blossom [that yields honey]; the flower
ताःtāḥthey; those; these
अमृताःamṛtāḥthe immortals; nectarean ones
आपःāpaḥthe waters; drops of water
ताःtāḥthey; those; these
वैvaiverily; indeed
एताःetāḥthese; of these
ऋचःṛcaḥthe ṛcs; the hymns of the Ṛg-veda
Translation
Its eastern rays are its eastern honey-veins; the bees are the ṛcs, the flower is the Ṛg-veda; those immortal waters [are the nectar]. These very ṛcs
Version
dbd4e3189e82 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:54:28 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The hive's first quarter is the east: prācyo madhu-nāḍyaḥ — "the eastern honey-veins" (nāḍīs! — the same "channels" as in the body: the sun has its honey-bearing vessels); ṛca eva madhu-kṛtaḥ — "the ṛcs are the honey-makers", the bees! ṛgveda eva puṣpam — "the Ṛg-veda is the flower": the hymn-bees fly to the flower of their own Veda and carry back nectar — amṛtā āpaḥ — "the immortal waters".
The scheme will repeat for every quarter: each has its own bees (texts), its own flower (a corpus) and its own load (the nectar-essence). The apiary's thought runs deep: the Vedas are not storehouses but labourers: the hymns work — they fly, gather, bring in: a sacred text lives by labour, as a bee does, and the sun's honey is what they have brought.