Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,2.2
॥
Devanāgarī
रैक्व इमानि षट् शतानि गवाम् अयम् निष्कः अयम् अश्वतरीरथः अनु मे एताम् भगवः देवताम् शाधि याम् देवताम् उपास्से इति
Transliteration (IAST)
raikva imāni ṣaṭ śatāni gavām ayam niṣkaḥ ayam aśvatarīrathaḥ anu me etām bhagavaḥ devatām śādhi yām devatām upāsse iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रैक्वraikvaO Raikva; Raikva
इमानिimānithese; all these
षट्ṣaṭsix; six in number
शतानिśatānihundreds; hundreds
गवाम्gavāmof cows; of cattle
अयम्ayamthis; this one here
निष्कःniṣkaḥthe golden ornament; the necklace
अयम्ayamthis; this one here
अश्वतरीरथःaśvatarīrathaḥthe cart with mules; the chariot drawn by she-mules
अनुanuwhether; thereafter
मेmemyself; for me
एताम्etāmthis; this very one
भगवःbhagavaḥvenerable one; sir
देवताम्devatāmthe deity; the divine power
शाधिśādhiinstruct me (from √śās, imperative); teach; teach me
याम्yāmwhich; that
देवताम्devatāmthe deity; the divine power
उपास्सेupāsseyou venerate (upa-√ās); you contemplate; you honour
इतिitithus; how
Translation
"Raikva! Here are six hundred cows, here is a necklace, here is a chariot with she-mules. Instruct me, sir, in that deity which you venerate!"
Version
c0a48c1797c2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:13:32 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The royal offer: the gifts are enumerated — and then the request: anu ma etāṁ bhagavo devatāṁ śādhi yāṁ devatām upāssa iti — "instruct me in that deity which you venerate": Jānaśruti asks not for a blessing but for the upāsanā: Raikva's own knowledge, the secret for which the geese set a vagrant above a king.
The request is right in its aim and wrong in its form: knowledge is asked for as a commodity — "here is the payment, hand over the science". Raikva will answer with a rudeness that shocks — and that will prove to be the most exact pedagogy: truth is not bought as a makeweight to cows: it is received by giving something else entirely. What was lacking in the first visit will be shown by comparison with the second.