Upanishads · Chāndogya 4,17.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सः एताम् त्रयीम् विद्याम् अभ्यतपत् तस्याः तप्यमानायाः रसान् प्रावृहत् भूः इति ऋग्भ्यः भुवः इति यजुर्भ्यः स्वर् इति सामभ्यः
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ etām trayīm vidyām abhyatapat tasyāḥ tapyamānāyāḥ rasān prāvṛhat bhūḥ iti ṛgbhyaḥ bhuvaḥ iti yajurbhyaḥ svar iti sāmabhyaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
एताम्etāmthis; this very one
त्रयीम्trayīmthe threefold (trayī — the 'triad' of Vedas); the triple; the threefold
विद्याम्vidyāmknowledge (vidyā); vidyā; the science
अभ्यतपत्abhyatapatwarmed with tapas; he heated
तस्याःtasyāḥout of her; it
तप्यमानायाःtapyamānāyāḥof what was being heated; of what was subjected to heat
रसान्rasānthe saps; the essences
प्रावृहत्prāvṛhathe drew out; he extracted
भूःbhūḥ'bhūḥ' (the utterance of earth); bhūḥ; the syllable of earth
इतिitithus; how
ऋग्भ्यःṛgbhyaḥout of the ṛcs; from the hymns of the Ṛg-veda
भुवःbhuvaḥ'bhuvaḥ' (the utterance of the mid-region); bhuvaḥ; the syllable of the sky-space
इतिitithus; how
यजुर्भ्यःyajurbhyaḥout of the yajus; from the formulas of the Yajur-veda
स्वर्svar'svar' (the utterance of heaven); svaḥ; the syllable of heaven
इतिitithus; how
सामभ्यःsāmabhyaḥout of the sāmans; from the chants
Translation
He brooded upon the threefold knowledge. From it as he brooded he drew out the saps: "bhūs" from the ṛcs, "bhuvas" from the yajuses, "svar" from the sāmans.
Version
fdd059bd2daa · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:23:57 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third and last distillation: the Vedas themselves have a sap — the three great utterance-syllables (vyāhṛti): bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ. Into three syllables the whole threefold knowledge is folded, and through it the lights and the worlds: this is the utmost concentration of the sacred, and there is nothing further to press. That is why the vyāhṛtis stand at the heart of the gāyatrī and of the daily rites: he who pronounces them holds in his mouth the pressing of the universe.
The fifth chapter of the Chāndogya (5.2) will bless the prāṇa with the same word; here the outcome of the distillation is strictly practical: the damages of a sacrifice are to be healed with precisely these three drops. So the Upaniṣad teaches reverence for the brief: the power of a word lies not in its length but in its density — a truth that bhakti will recognise in the holy name, where a few syllables compress everything that has been said of the Lord.