Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,5.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ ह एनम् ऋषभः अभ्युवाद सत्यकाम इति भगवः इति ह प्रतिशुश्राव प्राप्ताः सोम्य सहस्रम् स्मः प्रापय नः आचार्यकुलम्
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ha enam ṛṣabhaḥ abhyuvāda satyakāma iti bhagavaḥ iti ha pratiśuśrāva prāptāḥ somya sahasram smaḥ prāpaya naḥ ācāryakulam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
एनम्enamit; of this
ऋषभःṛṣabhaḥthe bull (the leader of the herd; a symbol of dharma); the steer; the foremost, the chief
अभ्युवादabhyuvādahe spoke to him (from abhi + √vad — 'to address someone'); he called out to him; he said
सत्यकामsatyakāmaO Satyakāma; Satyakāma
इतिitithus; how
भगवःbhagavaḥvenerable one; sir
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
प्रतिशुश्रावpratiśuśrāvahe answered (from prati + √śru — 'to hear in reply'); he answered; he responded
प्राप्ताःprāptāḥreached; they became
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
सहस्रम्sahasrama thousand; a thousand [we have become]; the full number
स्मःsmaḥwe are; we
प्रापयprāpayatake us (causative of pra + √āp — 'to bring'); lead hither; fetch
नःnaḥus; to us
आचार्यकुलम्ācāryakulamto the teacher's house (ācārya-kula — 'the family of the ācārya'); to the dwelling of the preceptor; to the teacher's school
Translation
Then a bull addressed him: "Satyakāma!" — "Sir!" he answered. "My dear, we have become a thousand. Lead us to the teacher's house.
Version
e08ab7931911 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:16:32 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The teacher is silent, and a bull begins to speak. This is no fairy-tale convention: for one who is faultless in truth and in service, nature itself becomes the mouth of the Teacher. Satyakāma herded another man's cows for years in the wilderness, laying claim to nothing — and a herd of four hundred grew of itself into a thousand. Wealth that was not sought comes as a by-product of faithfulness; the Gītā calls this yoga-kṣema — the Lord himself brings and preserves what is needed by one who remembers him (BG 9.22).
The choice of the first teacher is significant too. Ṛṣabha, the bull, the leader of the herd, is in Vedic language a symbol of dharma: the Bhāgavatam depicts dharma itself as a bull standing on four legs (SB 1.17). He who served cows with humility hears the voice of dharma before he hears the voice of men. The word ācāryakulam — "the teacher's house" — sets the direction of the whole chapter: every instructor he meets will lead the youth not away from his guru but toward him.
So begins a chain of four lessons, each disclosing one "quarter" of Brahman. Knowledge comes in parts and through service — a law that will be repeated at the chapter's end, where it is said that only knowledge received from an ācārya attains its full power.