Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,10.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तम् जाया उवाच तप्तः ब्रह्मचारी कुशलम् अग्नीन् परिचचार मा त्वा अग्नयः परिप्रवोचन् प्रब्रूहि अस्माः इति तस्मै ह अप्रोच्य एव प्रवासाम् चक्रे
Transliteration (IAST)
tam jāyā uvāca taptaḥ brahmacārī kuśalam agnīn paricacāra mā tvā agnayaḥ paripravocan prabrūhi asmāḥ iti tasmai ha aprocya eva pravāsām cakre
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तम्tamit; that one
जायाjāyāthe wife; the wife; the mistress of the house
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
तप्तःtaptaḥhe is worn (from √tap — 'to burn'; spent with austerity); exhausted by tapas; worn out
ब्रह्मचारीbrahmacārīthe pupil (the brahmacārin); one living under vows; the student
कुशलम्kuśalamdiligently; well and skilfully; faithfully
अग्नीन्agnīnluminaries; the sacred fires
परिचचारparicacārahe served; he attended
माmānot; me
त्वाtvāyou; to you
अग्नयःagnayaḥluminaries; the sacred fires
परिप्रवोचन्paripravocanthey reproached him (pari-pra + √vac — 'to speak out against'); they rebuked him; they blamed him
प्रब्रूहिprabrūhiteach him (pra + √brū — 'declare, impart'); tell him; teach me
अस्माःasmāḥto him; to this
इतिitithus; how
तस्मैtasmaito Him; to him
हhaindeed; surely
अप्रोच्यaprocyawithout having told him (a + pra + √vac); without instructing him; keeping silent
एवevaindeed; surely
प्रवासाम्pravāsāmon a journey (pravāsa — 'absence from home'); on his travels; away from home
चक्रेcakreI have performed; He made
Translation
The wife said to him: "The student is worn out with austerity and has tended the fires diligently. See that the fires do not reproach you — instruct him." But the teacher went off on a journey without having instructed him.
Version
4b4e6b872e58 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:21:05 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The teacher's wife interceding is a warm, domestic touch in the story: in an ācārya's house the mistress too takes part in the transmission of knowledge, and her compassion for the "worn-out" youth is the voice of mercy itself. Her argument is remarkable: "see that the fires do not reproach you". The fires are not the furniture of a rite but living witnesses; a debt to a pupil is a debt to them as well.
And yet Satyakāma leaves "without having spoken" (aprocya). In the light of the outcome this silence is pedagogy: the teacher deliberately leaves his pupil alone with the fires he has served for twelve years, so that the service may bear fruit at first hand. So once his own teacher sent him off with four hundred cows into the wilderness — and there nature spoke to him. A true guru knows how to keep silence in such a way that the silence becomes a door.