Upanishads · Chāndogya 6,4.2
॥
Devanāgarī
यत् आदित्यस्य रोहितम् रूपम् तेजसस् तत् रूपम् यत् शुक्लम् तत् अपाम् यत् कृष्णम् तत् अन्नस्य अपागात् आदित्यात् आदित्यत्वम् वाचारम्भणम् विकारः नामधेयम् त्रीणि रूपाणि इति एव सत्यम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yat ādityasya rohitam rūpam tejasas tat rūpam yat śuklam tat apām yat kṛṣṇam tat annasya apāgāt ādityāt ādityatvam vācārambhaṇam vikāraḥ nāmadheyam trīṇi rūpāṇi iti eva satyam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्yatwhich; that which
आदित्यस्यādityasyaof the sun (āditya, genitive); in the sun; of the solar orb
रोहितम्rohitamthe red; the ruddy
रूपम्rūpamshape; the appearance
तेजसस्tejasasof the fiery power; of the light-and-heat
तत्tatthat; this
रूपम्rūpamshape; the appearance
यत्yatwhich; that which
शुक्लम्śuklamthe white; the bright
तत्tatthat; this
अपाम्apāmof the waters; of the water element
यत्yatwhich; that which
कृष्णम्kṛṣṇamthe black; the dark
तत्tatthat; this
अन्नस्यannasyaof food; of food
अपागात्apāgātit went away; it vanished
आदित्यात्ādityātout of the sun; from Āditya
आदित्यत्वम्ādityatvamthe sun-ness (āditya-tva); its 'sunness'; the nature of the sun
वाचारम्भणम्vācārambhaṇambeginning with speech; depending on a word
विकारःvikāraḥa modification; a derivative state
नामधेयम्nāmadheyamthe name; appellation
त्रीणिtrīṇithree; threefold
रूपाणिrūpāṇiof the form; the forms
इतिitithus; how
एवevaindeed; surely
सत्यम्satyamtruth; reality
Translation
The red in the sun is the appearance of heat, the white the appearance of the waters, the black the appearance of food. Thus sunness departs from the sun: the modification is only a name that speech has laid hold of; the truth is "the three appearances".
Version
0f6f9a5dc6fa · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:36:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Second to be analysed is the sun — the very thing that for chapter after chapter was the summit of venerations: the honey of the gods (3.1–11), the eye of the Vaiśvānara (5.13). From it too "sunness departs": the crimson of sunrise is heat, the whiteness of noon the waters, the dark spots and the night's underside food. Even the greatest of symbols is a knot of three threads.
There is a deliberate therapy in this: a pupil accustomed to revere the sun must see that what deserves reverence is not the interlacing of threads but He who twisted them and entered them. The Upaniṣad takes apart its own altars so that worship shall not stick halfway — a gesture the whole bhakti tradition will later repeat, stripping the demigods of the rank of final goal: "worshippers of the gods go to the gods — Mine come to Me" (BG 9.25).