Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,2.3
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् ह एतत् सत्यकामः जाबालः गोश्रुतये वैयाघ्रपद्याय उक्त्वा उवाच यदि अपि एनत् शुष्काय स्थाणवे ब्रूयात् जायेरन् एव अस्मिन् शाखाः प्ररोहेयुः पलाशानि इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tat ha etat satyakāmaḥ jābālaḥ gośrutaye vaiyāghrapadyāya uktvā uvāca yadi api enat śuṣkāya sthāṇave brūyāt jāyeran eva asmin śākhāḥ praroheyuḥ palāśāni iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
हhaindeed; surely
एतत्etatthis; all this
सत्यकामःsatyakāmaḥSatyakāma (the hero of the fourth chapter, 'whose desire is truth'); Satyakāma Jābāla; Satyakāma
जाबालःjābālaḥJabālā; the son of Jabālā
गोश्रुतयेgośrutayeto Gośruti (the name of a pupil); to Gośruti Vaiyāghrapadya; to the pupil Gośruti
वैयाघ्रपद्यायvaiyāghrapadyāyato Vaiyāghrapadya; to the descendant of Vyāghrapada
उक्त्वाuktvāhaving told it (gerund of √vac); so saying; having set it forth
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
यदिyadiif; but if
अपिapieven; also
एनत्enatthis; it
शुष्कायśuṣkāyato a dry (śuṣka); to a withered; to a sapless
स्थाणवेsthāṇavestump (sthāṇu — 'a stock, a stump'); to a dead trunk; to a lopped stock
ब्रूयात्brūyāthe would say; he would utter
जायेरन्jāyeranthere would be born; there would appear
एवevaindeed; surely
अस्मिन्asminupon It; in this
शाखाःśākhāḥbranches (śākhā); boughs; shoots
प्ररोहेयुःpraroheyuḥthey will sprout (pra + √ruh — 'to grow forth'); they will spring up; they will come up
पलाशानिpalāśānileaves (palāśa); foliage; green leaves
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Satyakāma Jābāla, having imparted this to Gośruti Vaiyāghrapadya, said: "If one were to say this even to a dry stump, branches would grow on it and leaves would open."
Version
b003dc4fdada · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:26:36 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The teaching of the prāṇa is sealed with the name of a warrant — and he is our old acquaintance Satyakāma Jābāla, the hero of the fourth chapter. The boy who did not know his family has become a link in the chain: he passes the vidyā to his pupil Gośruti, and the Upaniṣad deliberately shows this link so that we may see that knowledge lives by transmission, from hand to hand.
His word about the dry stump is one of the boldest praises of a vidyā in all the Veda: the teaching about life is such that it would revive even a dead tree — "branches would grow and leaves would open". A word that carries life quickens; this is the experience of everyone who has seen how tidings of the Living God raise a man withered to a stump. The bhakti tradition speaks the same way of the holy name: it awakens even a heart in which there seemed to be nothing left to wake.