Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,10.10
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ ह यः एतान् एवम् पञ्चाग्नीन् वेद न सह तैः अपि आचरन् पाप्मना लिप्यते शुद्धः पूतः पुण्यलोकः भवति यः एवम् वेद यः एवम् वेद
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ha yaḥ etān evam pañcāgnīn veda na saha taiḥ api ācaran pāpmanā lipyate śuddhaḥ pūtaḥ puṇyalokaḥ bhavati yaḥ evam veda yaḥ evam veda
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एतान्etānthese; of them
एवम्evamthus; in this way
पञ्चाग्नीन्pañcāgnīnthe five fires (pañca-agni); the pentad of fires; the five sacrificial fires
वेदvedaknows; understands
नnanot; no
सहsahatogether; conjointly
तैःtaiḥwith them; by these
अपिapieven; also
आचरन्ācaranwho acts; associating
पाप्मनाpāpmanāby evil (pāpman — 'sin, defilement'); by defilement; by sin
लिप्यतेlipyatehe is stained (from √lip — 'to smear'); he is defiled; is soiled
शुद्धःśuddhaḥhe is pure (śuddha); pure; cleansed of defilement
पूतःpūtaḥpurified (pūta — from √pū); sanctified; made white
पुण्यलोकःpuṇyalokaḥhe gains a blessed world (puṇya-loka); he inherits a holy abode; he attains the pure world
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवम्evamthus; in this way
वेदvedaknows; understands
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवम्evamthus; in this way
वेदvedaknows; understands
Translation
But he who knows these five fires thus is not stained by evil even while going about among such men. Pure, cleansed, he attains a world of merit — he who knows thus, who knows thus.
Version
1043f797fefe · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:30:39 PM UTC
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The vidyā's conclusion overturns the preceding verse: association destroys — yet bad neighbourhood does not stain one who knows the five fires. A moment ago the one who walked with the fallen "fell as the fifth" — and now the knower, "even while going about with them" (api ācaran — the same word!), remains pure. Knowledge changes one's very relation to the environment: he who sees a chain of sacrifices in the world and a wheel in the round is inwardly lifted out of the wheel, and the dirt does not find him, as water does not find a lotus leaf (4.14.3).
The double seal — "who knows thus, who knows thus" — closes the pañcāgni-vidyā. The king's five questions have their answers: where they go, how they return, where the fork is, why the world does not fill up, how the waters become a human being. Only the heart's conclusion is left unspoken: if the smoky path returns one and the third state is dumb, there remains to give oneself to the road of light, at whose end the Guide awaits. Toward him the Upaniṣad will now turn — through the Vaiśvānara of the fifth chapter to the tat tvam asi of the sixth.