Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,10.2
॥
Devanāgarī
मासेभ्यः संवत्सरम् संवत्सरात् आदित्यम् आदित्यात् चन्द्रमसम् चन्द्रमसः विद्युतम् तत् पुरुषः अमानवः सः एनान् ब्रह्म गमयति एषः देवयानः पन्थाः इति
Transliteration (IAST)
māsebhyaḥ saṃvatsaram saṃvatsarāt ādityam ādityāt candramasam candramasaḥ vidyutam tat puruṣaḥ amānavaḥ saḥ enān brahma gamayati eṣaḥ devayānaḥ panthāḥ iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मासेभ्यःmāsebhyaḥout of the months; from the months
संवत्सरम्saṃvatsarama year; a full year
संवत्सरात्saṃvatsarātout of the year; from the year
आदित्यम्ādityamthe sun; Āditya
आदित्यात्ādityātout of the sun; from Āditya
चन्द्रमसम्candramasamthe moon; the lunar world
चन्द्रमसःcandramasaḥof the moon; of the lunar world
विद्युतम्vidyutaminto the lightning (vidyut); to the lightning; into the lightning-flash
तत्tatthat; this
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥman; Puruṣa
अमानवःamānavaḥnon-human (a-mānava — 'not of the descendants of Manu'); not of mortals; not of earth
सःsaḥhe; that one
एनान्enānof them; of these
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; sacred knowledge
गमयतिgamayatileads (causative of √gam); he leads; he conducts
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
देवयानःdevayānaḥleading to the gods (deva-yāna); the devayāna; the divine road
पन्थाःpanthāḥthe path (pathin); the road; the way
इतिitithus; how
Translation
from the months into the year, from the year into the sun, from the sun into the moon, from the moon into the lightning. There a superhuman Puruṣa leads them to Brahman. This is the path that leads to the gods.
Version
6055eb72b282 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:29:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The upper rungs: the year, the sun, the moon, the lightning — and at the last created rung, as in 4.15.5, waits puruṣo 'mānavaḥ, "a superhuman Puruṣa", who "leads them to Brahman". The last stretch cannot be walked on one's own feet: past the lightning everything ends that the soul could traverse by itself, and a guide sent from above takes it in hand. The Vedānta-sūtra devotes a whole section to this (4.3): those led by the lights are brought not to an impersonal nothing but to the Lord.
The Gītā confirms both route and outcome: "Fire, light, day, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northward course — by these the knowers of Brahman go, and they go to Brahman" (BG 8.24). The devayāna is a road without return; in the language of bhakti it is the path of a soul that mercy has taken from hand to hand and brought home. Light leads to Light, and the last step is always his.