Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,2.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्याः ह मुखम् उपोद्गृह्णन् उवाच अजहार इमाः शूद्र अनेन एव मुखेन आलापयिष्यथाः इति ते ह एते रैक्वपर्णाः नाम महावृषेषु यत्र अस्माइ उवास तस्मै ह उवाच
Transliteration (IAST)
tasyāḥ ha mukham upodgṛhṇan uvāca ajahāra imāḥ śūdra anena eva mukhena ālāpayiṣyathāḥ iti te ha ete raikvaparṇāḥ nāma mahāvṛṣeṣu yatra asmāi uvāsa tasmai ha uvāca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्याःtasyāḥout of her; it
हhaindeed; surely
मुखम्mukhamthe countenance; the face
उपोद्गृह्णन्upodgṛhṇanlifting up (upa-ud-√grah); raising [his face]; tilting up
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
अजहारajahārayou have brought; He brought
इमाःimāḥthese; these here
शूद्रśūdrathe śūdra; the man in grief
अनेनanenaby this; by means of this
एवevaindeed; surely
मुखेनmukhenaby the mouth; through the mouth; as by an entrance
आलापयिष्यथाःālāpayiṣyathāḥyou will make me speak (ā-√lap, causative future); you will draw me into talk; you will force speech from me
इतिitithus; how
तेteto you; for you
हhaindeed; surely
एतेetethese; the present
रैक्वपर्णाःraikvaparṇāḥRaikvaparṇa (raikva-parṇa — 'Raikva's leaves', the name of the villages); the villages of Raikvaparṇa; Raikva's hamlets
नामnāmathe name; appellation
महावृषेषुmahāvṛṣeṣuin [the land of] the Mahāvṛṣas (mahāvṛṣa); among the Mahāvṛṣas; in the country of Mahāvṛṣa
यत्रyatrawhere; when
अस्माइasmāifor him; to him
उवासuvāsahe lived; he dwelt
तस्मैtasmaito Him; to him
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
Translation
Lifting her face, [Raikva] said: "You have brought these [cows], śūdra? — [but] it is by this face that you will make me speak!" These are the villages among the Mahāvṛṣas called Raikvaparṇa, where he dwelt with him. And he said to him:
Version
a6e59d4a30d6 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:13:32 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The resolution of the betrothal: tasyā ha mukham upodgṛhṇan uvāca — "lifting her face, he said": Raikva looks into the princess's face — and utters words in which rudeness mingles for the last time with acceptance: ajahāremāḥ śūdra — "you have brought these, śūdra" — anenaiva mukhena ālāpayiṣyathā iti — "[but] by this face you will make me speak!": it was not a thousand cows that unlocked the knower's lips but a face: a living person, made over in kinship!
Commentators dispute this verse with embarrassment; its truth is simple and deep: knowledge is unlocked not by payment but by a bond: Raikva consented to speak when kinship arose between him and the petitioner — when the king put a daughter into the sage's household instead of driving cattle up to his cart. te haite raikva-parṇā nāma — those villages are called Raikvaparṇa to this day: the land has kept the memory of the place where a king's pride finished its schooling in sacrifice — tasmai hovāca — "and he said to him": the instruction begins.