Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,8.4
॥
Devanāgarī
सः यावत् आदित्यः दक्षिणतः उदेता उत्तरतः अस्तम् एता द्विः तावत् पश्चात् उदेता पुरस्तात् अस्तम् एता आदित्यानाम् एव तावत् आधिपत्यम् स्वाराज्यम् पर्येता
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ yāvat ādityaḥ dakṣiṇataḥ udetā uttarataḥ astam etā dviḥ tāvat paścāt udetā purastāt astam etā ādityānām eva tāvat ādhipatyam svārājyam paryetā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
यावत्yāvatas long as; as far as
आदित्यःādityaḥthe sun; Āditya
दक्षिणतःdakṣiṇataḥfrom the south; on the southern side
उदेताudetāhe will rise; he shall rise
उत्तरतःuttarataḥfrom the north; on the northern side
अस्तम्astamtoward the setting; to its vanishing
एताetāhe will go; he shall go
द्विःdviḥtwice; twofold
तावत्tāvatso long; so much
पश्चात्paścātin the west (paścāt — 'behind'); from the western side; from the west
उदेताudetāhe will rise; he shall rise
पुरस्तात्purastātbefore; earlier
अस्तम्astamtoward the setting; to its vanishing
एताetāhe will go; he shall go
आदित्यानाम्ādityānāmof the Ādityas; of the solar gods
एवevaindeed; surely
तावत्tāvatso long; so much
आधिपत्यम्ādhipatyamdominion; overlordship
स्वाराज्यम्svārājyamautonomy; a kingdom of one's own
पर्येताparyetāhe will go round; he will reach all round
Translation
As long as the sun rises in the south and sets in the north — twice as long does it rise in the west and set in the east, and so long does his overlordship and self-rule with the Ādityas extend.
Version
8a0e91fabb18 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:59:14 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The measure of the third communion: an epoch in which the sun rises paścāt — "in the west" — and sets in the east: twice as long as the southern one: a sky overturned with respect to ours, and the term doubled again.
"A sun rising in the west" is, in human speech, an image of the impossible; for the science of honey it is the third page in a calendar of universes: the Boundless ones have boundlessly strange aeons. The lesson of these reversals: do not measure eternity by the habits of your own east: the higher the communion, the stranger the worlds — and the calmer the knower: he has overlordship in every one of them.