Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,5.1
॥
Devanāgarī
पर्जन्यः वाव गौतम अग्निः तस्य वायुः एव समित् अभ्रम् धूमः विद्युत् अर्चिः अशनिः अङ्गाराः ह्रादुनयः विस्फुलिङ्गाः
Transliteration (IAST)
parjanyaḥ vāva gautama agniḥ tasya vāyuḥ eva samit abhram dhūmaḥ vidyut arciḥ aśaniḥ aṅgārāḥ hrādunayaḥ visphuliṅgāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पर्जन्यःparjanyaḥthe rain-cloud (parjanya — the god of the thunder-rain); Parjanya; the storm-sky
वावvāvatruly; indeed
गौतमgautamaO Gautama; Gautama
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
तस्यtasyait; concerning this
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind (vāyu); the air; Vāyu
एवevaindeed; surely
समित्samitfuel; the log
अभ्रम्abhramthe cloud (abhra — 'the water-bearing cloud'); the cloud; the rain-cloud
धूमःdhūmaḥsmoke; the smoke-form
विद्युत्vidyutlightning; the lightning-flash; the flash of lightning
अर्चिःarciḥflame; the radiance
अशनिःaśaniḥthe thunderbolt (aśani — 'the bolt'); the thunder-clap; the shaft of thunder
अङ्गाराःaṅgārāḥthe coals; the glowing coals
ह्रादुनयःhrādunayaḥthe rumblings (hrāduni — 'the rolling noise'); the peals; the rolls of thunder
विस्फुलिङ्गाःvisphuliṅgāḥthe sparks; the flashes of fire
Translation
"The rain-cloud, Gautama, is a fire. The wind is its fuel, the storm-cloud its smoke, the lightning its flame, the thunderclap its embers, the rolling peals its sparks.
Version
094fa6531143 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:27:54 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second altar is parjanya, the thundering sky. The correspondences are as exact as in the first: the wind fans this fire as fuel feeds a flame; the billowing cloud is the smoke; the lightning is the flash of flame; the thunderclap is the embers, the heavy heat of the core; the long rolling peals are the sparks scattering at the storm's edges.
A thunderstorm, the most terrifying of nature's spectacles, is read as a divine service: in the thunder too a sacrifice is being performed. This heals the eye of two diseases at once — of dread before the elements and of indifference to them: overhead there is no "atmospheric phenomenon" but an altar on which the heavenly seed is transmuted into rain for all that lives.