Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,17.2
॥
Devanāgarī
सः एताः तिस्रः देवताः अभ्यतपत् तासाम् तप्यमानानाम् रसान् प्रावृहत् अग्नेः ऋचः वायोः यजूंषि सामानि आदित्यात्
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ etāḥ tisraḥ devatāḥ abhyatapat tāsām tapyamānānām rasān prāvṛhat agneḥ ṛcaḥ vāyoḥ yajūṃṣi sāmāni ādityāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
एताःetāḥthese; of these
तिस्रःtisraḥthree (feminine); the three; the triad
देवताःdevatāḥthe deities (the three: fire, wind, sun); of the deities; the light-deities
अभ्यतपत्abhyatapatwarmed with tapas; he heated
तासाम्tāsāmof them; for them
तप्यमानानाम्tapyamānānāmof those being heated; of those subjected to heat
रसान्rasānthe saps; the essences
प्रावृहत्prāvṛhathe drew out; he extracted
अग्नेःagneḥof fire; Agni
ऋचःṛcaḥthe ṛcs (the hymns of the Ṛg-veda); the hymn-verses; the ṛcs
वायोःvāyoḥout of the wind; from Vāyu
यजूंषिyajūṃṣithe yajus (the sacrificial formulas of the Yajur-veda); the formulas of the rite; the yajuses
सामानिsāmānithe sāmans (the chants of the Sāma-veda); of the chant; the sāmans
आदित्यात्ādityātout of the sun; from Āditya
Translation
He brooded upon these three deities. From the deities as he brooded he drew out their saps: the ṛcs from fire, the yajuses from the wind, the sāmans from the sun.
Version
9ebff7541c19 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:23:57 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second distillation: the lights themselves have their sap, and it is the Vedas. Out of fire are pressed the ṛcs (the hymns of the Ṛg-veda), out of the wind the yajuses (the formulas of the Yajur-veda), out of the sun the sāmans (the chants of the Sāma-veda). The word of the Vedas is not composed but pressed out of the luminaries, as oil from a seed: sacred speech is the essence of light, light become sound.
The correspondences are not accidental: a ṛc-hymn burns like a flame; a yajus moves the rite as the wind moves the world; a sāman pours out radiance like the sun. The Chāndogya has already built this ladder in the other direction (2.21), and the third chapter showed the Vedas as flowers from which the sun's honey is gathered (3.1–5). Here the same pattern serves a nearer purpose: if the Vedas are the saps of the lights, and the lights the saps of the worlds, then in the word of the Vedas the power of the whole universe is condensed. With it the healing will be done.