Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,17.3
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ यत् हसति यत् जक्षति यत् मैथुनम् चरति स्तुतशस्त्रैः एव तत् एति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha yat hasati yat jakṣati yat maithunam carati stutaśastraiḥ eva tat eti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
यत्yatwhich; that which
हसतिhasatihe laughs (from √has); he laughs aloud; he makes merry
यत्yatwhich; that which
जक्षतिjakṣatihe feasts (from √jakṣ — 'to eat, to laugh'); he regales himself; he eats in mirth
यत्yatwhich; that which
मैथुनम्maithunamconjugal union (maithuna); wedlock; intercourse
चरतिcaratihe performs; he practises
स्तुतशस्त्रैःstutaśastraiḥwith lauds and recitations (stuta-śastra); with stotras and śastras; with chants and recitals
एवevaindeed; surely
तत्tatthat; this
एतिetiattains; comes to
Translation
And when he laughs, when he feasts, when he goes in to his wife — then he is passing through the lauds and recitations.
Version
cff9011ca1a2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:08:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third article is the boldest: yad dhasati yaj jakṣati yan maithunaṁ carati — "that he laughs, feasts, goes in to his wife" — stuta-śastrair eva tad eti — "by that he goes through the stotras and śastras" — the rite's chants of praise and its recitations!
Laughter is the liturgical singing of life! Merriment, the table, the love of husband and wife are the hymnographic portions of the human sacrifice (the vāmadevya sāman of 2.13 already wove a melody into wedlock!): sounding joy is a stotra uttered by the body. The Upaniṣad hallows what a gloomy piety is accustomed to subtract from holiness: in the sacrifice that is a life, men laugh as they sing at a service: he who never laughs has the lauds missing from his liturgy.