Upanishads · Chāndogya 6,2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
सत् एव सोम्य इदम् अग्र आसीत् एकम् एव अद्वितीयम् तत् ह एके आहुः असत् एव इदम् अग्र आसीत् एकम् एव अद्वितीयम् तस्मात् असतः सत् जायत
Transliteration (IAST)
sat eva somya idam agra āsīt ekam eva advitīyam tat ha eke āhuḥ asat eva idam agra āsīt ekam eva advitīyam tasmāt asataḥ sat jāyata
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्satBeing (sat — 'That which is', a participle of √as — 'to be'); Being; That which is
एवevaindeed; surely
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
इदम्idamthis; thus
अग्रagrain the beginning (agre — 'at the start'); at the outset; before all else
आसीत्āsītit was (imperfect of √as); existed; it existed
एकम्ekamone (eka); single; one only
एवevaindeed; surely
अद्वितीयम्advitīyamwithout a second (a-dvitīya — 'having no second'); having no second; the only
तत्tatthat; this
हhaindeed; surely
एकेekesome (eka, plural — 'certain ones'); others; some
आहुःāhuḥthey say; said
असत्asatthe non-existent (a-sat — 'non-being'); non-being; the non-existing
एवevaindeed; surely
इदम्idamthis; thus
अग्रagrain the beginning (agre — 'at the start'); at the outset; before all else
आसीत्āsītit was (imperfect of √as); existed; it existed
एकम्ekamone (eka); single; one only
एवevaindeed; surely
अद्वितीयम्advitīyamwithout a second (a-dvitīya — 'having no second'); having no second; the only
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
असतःasataḥout of the non-existent; out of non-being
सत्satBeing (sat — 'That which is', a participle of √as — 'to be'); Being; That which is
जायतjāyatait was born (from √jan); came to be; it came about
Translation
"Being, my dear, was this in the beginning — one only, without a second. Some, it is true, say: non-being was this in the beginning, one only, without a second, and from non-being being was born.
Version
d5b67086302e · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:34:59 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is the heart of the sixth chapter — the sad-vidyā, the knowledge of Being. Sad eva somyedam agra āsīd ekam evādvitīyam: "Being was this in the beginning — one only, without a second." Every word is weighed on eternal scales: sat is Being as such, full and living; ekam eva is one beyond counting; advitīyam is without a second — there was nothing alongside, nothing opposite, no rival substance out of which It might have moulded the world as a potter out of another's clay. The cause of the world is one and single in every sense at once.
The father honestly cites the other view as well: "some say — in the beginning there was non-being". The doctrine of being born from nothing is older than the dispute with it (its echo is in the Ṛg-veda's Nāsadīya hymn, 10.129, and in Taittirīya 2.7); Uddālaka does not hush up his opponent — he brings him into the light and questions him. So a model of theological debate is set: hear the other side, state it without distortion — and only then test it by reason.
For the Vedānta of bhakti this verse is the whole foundation: "one without a second" is no empty unity but the fullness of a Living One who has no one to share power with and nothing to borrow material from. He alone is — and therefore all that follows will be his will, his substance, his play: advaya-jñāna, the non-dual Reality which the Bhāgavatam calls Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān — three names of one Essence (SB 1.2.11).