Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,12.5
॥
Devanāgarī
सा एषा चतुष्पदा षड्विधा गायत्री तत् एतत् ऋचा अभ्यनूक्तम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sā eṣā catuṣpadā ṣaḍvidhā gāyatrī tat etat ṛcā abhyanūktam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
साsāshe; that one
एषाeṣāthis; such is
चतुष्पदाcatuṣpadāfour-footed (catuṣ-padā); of four feet; the four-footed [stanza]
षड्विधाṣaḍvidhāsixfold (ṣaḍ-vidhā); of six kinds; six-formed
गायत्रीgāyatrīthe Gāyatrī; the gāyatrī metre itself
तत्tatthat; this
एतत्etatthis; all this
ऋचाṛcāby a ṛc; by a Vedic stanza
अभ्यनूक्तम्abhyanūktamit has been said; it has been proclaimed
Translation
This gāyatrī is four-footed and sixfold. Of this it has been said in a ṛc as well:
Version
35afaa1b405b · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:02:24 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The measure of the metre: sā eṣā catuṣpadā ṣaḍvidhā gāyatrī — "this gāyatrī is of four feet and of six kinds": as a metre it is four-footed (in the mystical reckoning) and sixfold (speech, beings, earth, body, heart, prāṇas — the six manifestations enumerated by the vidyā!).
The number prepares the great verse now to be quoted (from the Puruṣa-sūkta, Ṛg-veda 10.90!): the four feet of the gāyatrī are the four feet of the Puruṣa: the metre of the world and the Man of the world will meet in one arithmetic: one foot here, three in the immortal.