Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,3.3
॥
Devanāgarī
वेत्थ यथा असौ लोकः न संपूर्यते इति न भगवः इति वेत्थ यथा पञ्चम्याम् आहुतौ आपः पुरुषवचसः भवन्ति इति नैव भगवः इति
Transliteration (IAST)
vettha yathā asau lokaḥ na saṃpūryate iti na bhagavaḥ iti vettha yathā pañcamyām āhutau āpaḥ puruṣavacasaḥ bhavanti iti naiva bhagavaḥ iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वेत्थvetthayou know; you understand
यथाyathāhow; like
असौasauthat one; yonder
लोकःlokaḥthe world; dwelling
नnanot; no
संपूर्यतेsaṃpūryateit is filled up (sam + √pṝ — 'to become full to the brim'); it becomes full; it is filled
इतिitithus; how
नnanot; no
भगवःbhagavaḥvenerable one; sir
इतिitithus; how
वेत्थvetthayou know; you understand
यथाyathāhow; like
पञ्चम्याम्pañcamyāmat the fifth (pañcamī); in the fifth; in the fifth
आहुतौāhutauoblation (āhuti — 'a sacrificial offering'); at the oblation; in the offering
आपःāpaḥthe waters; drops of water
पुरुषवचसःpuruṣavacasaḥacquiring human speech (puruṣa-vacas — 'speaking as men'); called by the name of man; with the voice of a man
भवन्तिbhavantibecome; are
इतिitithus; how
नैवnaivanot at all; certainly not
भगवःbhagavaḥvenerable one; sir
इतिitithus; how
Translation
"Do you know why that world does not become full?" — "No, sir." — "Do you know how at the fifth oblation the waters come to have a human voice?" — "No indeed, sir."
Version
8f9f99b720f5 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:27:54 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth question is striking in its sobriety: if the dead go off "into that world" in an unbroken stream for thousands of years, why has that world not filled up? The answer (5.10 will give it) is: because they come back from there — the universe is arranged as a circulation, not a storehouse. The fifth question is the most mysterious and the most important: how "at the fifth oblation the waters come to have a human voice", that is, how the sacrificial fluid, through five transplantings, becomes a speaking human being? This is the formula of conception read as a liturgy.
At the fifth question Śvetaketu surrenders with emphasis: naiva — "no indeed". Five questions are five fires to come; the king has handed out in advance the plan of a lesson that will be received not by the son but by the father. The Upaniṣad also teaches the manner of questioning: a good teacher first lets the pupil measure the depth of his own ignorance — and only then pours.