Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,17.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मात् आहुः सोष्यति असोष्ट इति पुनर् उत्पादनम् एव अस्य तत् मरणम् एव अवभृथः
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmāt āhuḥ soṣyati asoṣṭa iti punar utpādanam eva asya tat maraṇam eva avabhṛthaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
सोष्यतिsoṣyatishe will bear; she is about to bring forth
असोष्टasoṣṭashe has borne; brought forth
इतिitithus; how
पुनर्punaragain; once more
उत्पादनम्utpādanamthe begetting (utpādana); the producing [of offspring]; birth
एवevaindeed; surely
अस्यasyaof this; it
तत्tatthat; this
मरणम्maraṇamdeath; dying
एवevaindeed; surely
अवभृथःavabhṛthaḥthe concluding bath (avabhṛtha — the bathing at the sacrifice's end); the avabhṛtha; the bath of him who has completed it
Translation
Therefore they say: "she will give birth", "she has given birth" — that is his new begetting. And his death is the concluding bath.
Version
40b9c0b5f778 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:08:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The close of the order of service: tasmād āhuḥ soṣyaty asoṣṭeti — "therefore they say: 'he will press [the soma]', 'he has pressed'" — of childbirth! (soṣyati is both the verb of giving birth and the verb of pressing soma — one word: the birth of a child is a new pressing in the sacrifice of the line!): punar utpādanam evāsya — "that is his new begetting". And then the greatest of them: maraṇam evāvabhṛthaḥ — "death is his avabhṛtha": the concluding bath of the sacrificer after the sacrifice is finished!
The avabhṛtha is a joyful bathing at the end of a rite: having washed off the sweat of the sacrifice, the officiant comes out clean and fulfilled. So the Upaniṣad completes its renaming of life: hunger is the consecration, feasting the festal services, laughter the lauds, virtue the fees, the begetting of children new pressings, death the bath of one who has finished! Not a single secular moment is left: the whole of life, from the first hunger to the last breath, is one seamless liturgy, and death within it is not a catastrophe but the font of completion.