Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,17.1
॥
Devanāgarī
सः यत् अशिशिषति यत् पिपासति यत् न रमते ताः अस्य दीक्षाः
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ yat aśiśiṣati yat pipāsati yat na ramate tāḥ asya dīkṣāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
यत्yatwhich; that which
अशिशिषतिaśiśiṣatihe hungers (desiderative of √aś — 'he wants to eat'); he hungers; he wants to eat
यत्yatwhich; that which
पिपासतिpipāsatihe thirsts (desiderative of √pā); he wants to drink; he is parched with thirst
यत्yatwhich; that which
नnanot; no
रमतेramatehe takes pleasure (from √ram); rejoices; he delights
ताःtāḥthey; those; these
अस्यasyaof this; it
दीक्षाःdīkṣāḥconsecration (dīkṣā); the dīkṣā; the rite of initiation
Translation
When he hungers, when he thirsts, when he takes no pleasure — those are his consecrations.
Version
9cb7a601bffc · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:08:21 PM UTC
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The seventeenth khaṇḍa carries the puruṣa-yajña down into every day — and it begins with privations: yad aśiśiṣati yat pipāsati yan na ramate — "that he hungers, thirsts, takes no pleasure" — tā asya dīkṣāḥ — "those are his dīkṣā", his consecration! In the rite the dīkṣā is the season of abstinence that prepares the sacrificer; in the life-sacrifice every hunger, thirst and joylessness is that same dīkṣā: not a breakdown but an office.
The reversal is more consoling than any consolation: privations are included in the liturgy: a sufferer has not fallen out of grace but stands at the consecratory stage of the service: his fast is a lawful part of the order of worship. Whoever sees his deprivations so is not humiliated in them but consecrated.