Upanishads · Chāndogya 6,9.3
॥
Devanāgarī
ते इह व्यघ्रः वा सिंहः वा वृकः वा वराहः वा कीटः वा पतङ्गः वा दंशः वा मशकः वा यत् यत् भवन्ति तत् आभवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
te iha vyaghraḥ vā siṃhaḥ vā vṛkaḥ vā varāhaḥ vā kīṭaḥ vā pataṅgaḥ vā daṃśaḥ vā maśakaḥ vā yat yat bhavanti tat ābhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेteto you; for you
इहihahere; in this world
व्यघ्रःvyaghraḥa tiger (vyāghra); as a tiger; a tiger
वाvāverily; surely
सिंहःsiṃhaḥa lion (siṁha); as a lion; a lion
वाvāverily; surely
वृकःvṛkaḥa wolf (vṛka); as a wolf; a wolf
वाvāverily; surely
वराहःvarāhaḥa boar (varāha); as a boar; a boar
वाvāverily; surely
कीटःkīṭaḥa worm (kīṭa); as a worm; an insect
वाvāverily; surely
पतङ्गःpataṅgaḥa moth (pataṅga); as a moth; a flying insect
वाvāverily; surely
दंशःdaṃśaḥa gadfly (daṁśa — 'the biter'); as a gadfly; a horsefly
वाvāverily; surely
मशकःmaśakaḥa gnat (maśaka); as a gnat; a mosquito
वाvāverily; surely
यत्yatwhich; that which
यत्yatwhich; that which
भवन्तिbhavantibecome; are
तत्tatthat; this
आभवन्तिābhavantithey become again (ā + √bhū — 'they return into being'); they take body anew; they turn into that once more
Translation
Here they become again what they were: a tiger or a lion, a wolf or a boar, a worm or a moth, a gadfly or a gnat.
Version
c8c461cb4e7e · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:40:33 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A sobering continuation: having lodged in Being without memory, creatures come back "as what they were" — from tiger to gnat. A nightly bathing in the Source does not change a destiny, because it has not touched knowledge: he who fell asleep a tiger wakes a tiger. Unconscious nearness does not transfigure — such is the hard law that the honey parable spells out to the end.
The list of animals is chosen with a wry smile: predators and bloodsuckers, creatures that live on the life of others. Such is the inertia of ignorance: however often you return to Being without recognition, you come out the same consumer of what belongs to others. Only knowledge-and-love transfigures, and the Gītā draws the line with the same blade: he who remembers Me at the hour of departure "comes to Me"; the rest go each after his own memory (BG 8.5–6). Not where you visit but what you remember is what decides.