Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,3.2
॥
Devanāgarī
यदा आपः उच्छुष्यन्ति वायुम् एव अपियन्ति वायुः हि एव एतान् सर्वान् संवृङ्क्ते इति अधिदैवतम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yadā āpaḥ ucchuṣyanti vāyum eva apiyanti vāyuḥ hi eva etān sarvān saṃvṛṅkte iti adhidaivatam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यदाyadāwhen; at the moment when
आपःāpaḥthe waters; drops of water
उच्छुष्यन्तिucchuṣyantithey dry up (ud-√śuṣ); they are parched; they evaporate
वायुम्vāyumthe wind; Vāyu
एवevaindeed; surely
अपियन्तिapiyantithey flow in; enter
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind; Vāyu
हिhiindeed; truly
एवevaindeed; surely
एतान्etānthese; of them
सर्वान्sarvānall; all
संवृङ्क्तेsaṃvṛṅkteit absorbs (sam-√vṛj); it rakes to itself; it absorbs
इतिitithus; how
अधिदैवतम्adhidaivatamthe cosmic explanation; relating to the deities
Translation
when the waters dry up, they enter into Vāyu: for it is Vāyu alone that gathers them all in." This is with reference to the deities.
Version
ae3c210482dd · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:13:32 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth gathering-in: the drying waters too go into Vāyu (evaporation! — an ancient and exact observation: water does not perish, it goes into the air): vāyur hy evaitān sarvān saṁvṛṅkte — "Vāyu alone gathers them all in": fire, sun, moon, waters — the four great ones — are packed into the wind as instruments into a case.
iti adhidaivatam — the cosmic leaf is closed. Mark the sober science of the vidyā: this is a law of conservation seen three thousand years before physics: nothing is annihilated, everything is gathered in: what goes out changes its address, not its being. But for Raikva this is not physics but theology: every disappearance has its Gatherer: the terrible word "end" means only "it has entered something more spacious".