Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,7.3
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मणः सोम्य ते पादम् ब्रवाणि इति ब्रवीतु मे भगवान् इति तस्मै ह उवाच अग्निः कला सूर्यः कला चन्द्रः कला विद्युत् कला एषः वै सोम्य चतुष्कलः पादः ब्रह्मणः ज्योतिष्मान् नाम
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmaṇaḥ somya te pādam bravāṇi iti bravītu me bhagavān iti tasmai ha uvāca agniḥ kalā sūryaḥ kalā candraḥ kalā vidyut kalā eṣaḥ vai somya catuṣkalaḥ pādaḥ brahmaṇaḥ jyotiṣmān nāma
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्मणःbrahmaṇaḥof Brahman; of the Absolute
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
तेteto you; for you
पादम्pādamquarter; the foot
ब्रवाणिbravāṇiI shall tell; shall I tell
इतिitithus; how
ब्रवीतुbravītulet him tell; let him instruct
मेmemyself; for me
भगवान्bhagavānvenerable one; esteemed one
इतिitithus; how
तस्मैtasmaito Him; to him
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
अग्निःagniḥfire (the luminary of earth); flame; the god of fire
कलाkalāa part; a portion
सूर्यःsūryaḥthe sun; the luminary of day; Sūrya
कलाkalāa part; a portion
चन्द्रःcandraḥthe moon; the lunar orb; the light of night
कलाkalāa part; a portion
विद्युत्vidyutlightning; the lightning-flash; the brilliance of the sky
कलाkalāa part; a portion
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
चतुष्कलःcatuṣkalaḥfourfold; having four portions
पादःpādaḥquarter; foot
ब्रह्मणःbrahmaṇaḥof Brahman; of the Absolute
ज्योतिष्मान्jyotiṣmānthe Light-bearing (jyotis-mat — 'possessed of light'); possessing luminaries; the Radiant
नामnāmathe name; appellation
Translation
"My dear, I shall tell you a quarter of Brahman." — "Let your reverence tell me." And he said to him: "Fire is a portion, the sun is a portion, the moon is a portion, lightning is a portion. This, my dear, is the four-portioned quarter of Brahman, and its name is the Light-bearing (jyotiṣmān)."
Version
7593f9388857 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:19:15 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third teacher is a haṁsa, a goose or swan (the two verses of its arrival, 4.7.1–2, are absent from the received text; its speech is preserved here). The haṁsa is an ancient image of the liberated soul and of the Lord himself: it flies from lake to lake without wetting its wings, as a pure soul passes through the world without being bound by it; the Bhāgavatam knows a Haṁsa-avatāra who instructs in pure knowledge. Its lesson is the luminaries: fire, sun, moon and lightning, the four lights of the world's four tiers, together the quarter jyotiṣmān, "Possessing light".
The ladder has climbed another rung: from what is lit (the quarters, the elements) to the sources of light themselves. Yet the luminaries too do not shine by themselves: "There the sun does not shine, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor these lightnings — how then this fire? Everything shines only after him as he shines; by his shining all this is lit" (Kaṭha 2.2.15, Muṇḍaka 2.2.10). The Gītā says the same in the first person: "The splendour of the sun that lights the whole world, and the splendour of the moon and of fire — know it to be Mine" (BG 15.12).
So the "Light-bearing" quarter teaches one to see in every light a borrowed light, and to love not the lamp but the Flame behind it.