Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,4.1
॥
Devanāgarī
सत्यकामः ह जाबालः जबालाम् मातरम् आमन्त्रयाम् चक्रे ब्रह्मचर्यम् भवति विवत्स्यामि किंगोत्रः नु अहम् अस्मि इति
Transliteration (IAST)
satyakāmaḥ ha jābālaḥ jabālām mātaram āmantrayām cakre brahmacaryam bhavati vivatsyāmi kiṃgotraḥ nu aham asmi iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्यकामःsatyakāmaḥSatyakāma; desiring truth
हhaindeed; surely
जाबालःjābālaḥJabālā; the son of Jabālā
जबालाम्jabālāmJabālā; his mother Jabālā
मातरम्mātaramthe mother; to his mother
आमन्त्रयाम्āmantrayāmhe said to her (ā-√mantr); spoke to; he addressed her
चक्रेcakreI have performed; He made
ब्रह्मचर्यम्brahmacaryambrahmacarya; studentship
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
विवत्स्यामिvivatsyāmiI wish to live (desiderative of √vas); I intend to dwell; I would take up residence
किंगोत्रःkiṃgotraḥof what family (kiṁ-gotra); of whose gotra; of what lineage-name
नुnusurely; is it that
अहम्ahamI; I myself
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Satyakāma Jābāla said to his mother Jabālā: "I wish to live as a brahmacārin, madam. Of what family am I?"
Version
51d44ab19d9d · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:16:32 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The story of Satyakāma begins — a jewel among the Upaniṣads' tales of truth and of birth. The boy is setting out to be a pupil: brahmacaryaṁ bhavati vivatsyāmi — "I wish to live in brahmacarya, madam" — and he puts to his mother the unavoidable question: kiṁ-gotro nv aham asmi — "of what family, then, am I?": when a pupil is received his gotra is asked, the family name: without it you cannot knock at a teacher's door.
The question is simple; the answer will be one of those that decide a life: the boy has no gotra, and his mother will now tell him so with a directness that becomes his passport above any pedigree. The story of Satyakāma is about truth, not blood, being inherited: and its first step is a son who asks honestly and a mother ready to answer honestly.