Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,10.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सः ह व्याधिना अनशितुम् दध्रे तम् आचार्यजाया उवाच ब्रह्मचारिन् अशान किम् नु न अश्नासि इति सः ह उवाच बहवः इमे अस्मिन् पुरुषे कामाः नानात्यायाः व्याधीभिः प्रतिपूर्णः अस्मि न अशिष्यामि इति
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ ha vyādhinā anaśitum dadhre tam ācāryajāyā uvāca brahmacārin aśāna kim nu na aśnāsi iti saḥ ha uvāca bahavaḥ ime asmin puruṣe kāmāḥ nānātyāyāḥ vyādhībhiḥ pratipūrṇaḥ asmi na aśiṣyāmi iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhaindeed; surely
व्याधिनाvyādhināfrom distress (vyādhi — 'ailment, suffering'); from pain; from anguish
अनशितुम्anaśitumnot to eat (an + √aś — 'not to partake'); to fast; to refuse food
दध्रेdadhrehe resolved (from √dhṛ — 'to fix one's purpose'); he determined; he made up his mind
तम्tamit; that one
आचार्यजायाācāryajāyāthe teacher's wife (ācārya-jāyā); the ācārya's wife; the lady of the guru's house
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
ब्रह्मचारिन्brahmacārinO student; O brahmacārin
अशानaśānaeat (imperative of √aś); take food; eat
किम्kimwhat; why
नुnusurely; is it that
नnanot; no
अश्नासिaśnāsiyou eat; you take food
इतिitithus; how
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
बहवःbahavaḥmany; a multitude
इमेimethese; the present
अस्मिन्asminupon It; in this
पुरुषेpuruṣein a man; in the Puruṣa
कामाःkāmāḥdesires (kāma); aspirations; the cravings
नानात्यायाःnānātyāyāḥrunning off in all directions (nānā + atyaya — 'going asunder by many ways'); leading away by different roads; many-directioned
व्याधीभिःvyādhībhiḥwith distresses (plural of vyādhi); with ailments; with sufferings
प्रतिपूर्णःpratipūrṇaḥhe is filled to the brim (prati + √pṝ — 'to fill up'); is full; he is full
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
नnanot; no
अशिष्यामिaśiṣyāmiI shall eat; I will take food
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Then out of grief he resolved not to eat. The teacher's wife said to him: "Student, eat! Why do you not eat?" He answered: "In this man there are many desires, running off in all directions. I am filled with sorrows — I shall not eat."
Version
6a7bc3ec7fed · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:21:05 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Upakosala's refusal of food is not sulking, nor a bargain, but a fast of grief: a pupil denied knowledge loses his taste for life itself. His answer is a small confession: "in this man there are many desires, running off in all directions" (nānātyāyāḥ — "leading away by different paths"). He speaks of himself in the third person — "in this man" — already standing apart from his own bustle of desires and not identifying with it.
The word vyādhi — "ailment, sorrow" — is double-edged here: he is "filled" not with bodily diseases but with the pain of separation — from knowledge, from his teacher. Such pain is dearer than health: a hunger for truth in which no morsel will go down is precisely the thirst to which revelation answers. Fires do not speak to the well-fed; they speak to one who is grieving.