Upanishads · Chāndogya 6,12.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तम् ह उवाच यम् वै सोम्य एतम् अणिमानम् न निभालयसे एतस्य वै सोम्य एषः अणिम्नः एवम् महान्यग्रोधः तिष्ठति श्रद्धत्स्व सोम्य इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tam ha uvāca yam vai somya etam aṇimānam na nibhālayase etasya vai somya eṣaḥ aṇimnaḥ evam mahānyagrodhaḥ tiṣṭhati śraddhatsva somya iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तम्tamit; that one
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
यम्yamwhom; that one
वैvaiverily; indeed
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
एतम्etamit; of this
अणिमानम्aṇimānamthe subtlety (aṇiman, accusative); the finest thing; the subtle essence
नnanot; no
निभालयसेnibhālayaseyou perceive (ni + √bhal — 'to notice'); you notice; do you discern
एतस्यetasyaof this; from this
वैvaiverily; indeed
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
अणिम्नःaṇimnaḥout of that subtlety (aṇiman, ablative); out of the finest; from the subtle essence
एवम्evamthus; in this way
महान्यग्रोधःmahānyagrodhaḥthe great nyagrodha (mahā-nyagrodha); the mighty banyan; the huge nyagrodha
तिष्ठतिtiṣṭhatistands; abides
श्रद्धत्स्वśraddhatsvabelieve (imperative of śrat + √dhā — 'set your heart on it'); have faith; hold it in faith
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
इतिitithus; how
Translation
And he said: "That subtlety which you do not see, my dear — out of that very subtlety the great nyagrodha stands. Believe, my dear!
Version
d5381d499b2f · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:40:33 PM UTC
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The answer to "nothing" is one of the summit verses of the Veda: "that subtlety which you do not see — out of it the great nyagrodha stands". At the split of a seed the eye finds emptiness, and truth finds the cause of a grove: invisible does not mean non-existent; out of the invisible all the visible stands. So too with Being: its "nothing" at the world's splits is not an absence but a subtlety beyond sight.
And here the father utters a word that has not occurred in the whole chapter: śraddhatsva — "believe!" Not "reason it out", not "verify" — believe. Having reached the frontier of experience, knowledge honestly holds out a hand to faith: the last step past the split of the seed is taken by trust in a knower's word. This is not a capitulation of reason but its maturity: śraddhā, faith, is the same organ of knowing, only for the subtle (cf. BG 4.39: śraddhāvāl labhate jñānam — "the man of faith obtains knowledge"). The chapter's whole ladder — tables, experiments, parables — has led to this short imperative; beyond it only trust leads on — and it, as the whole tradition promises, does not disappoint.