Upanishads · Chāndogya 6,16.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सः यथा तत्र न अदाह्येत एतत् आत्म्यम् इदम् सर्वम् तत् सत्यम् सः आत्मा तत् त्वम् असि श्वेतकेतो इति तत् ह अस्य विजज्ञौ इति विजज्ञौ इति
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ yathā tatra na adāhyeta etat ātmyam idam sarvam tat satyam saḥ ātmā tat tvam asi śvetaketo iti tat ha asya vijajñau iti vijajñau iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
यथाyathāhow; like
तत्रtatrathere; in this
नnanot; no
अदाह्येतadāhyetahe is not burnt (passive optative of √dah); he would not be burnt; he would not be scorched
एतत्etatthis; all this
आत्म्यम्ātmyamwhose essence; the nature
इदम्idamthis; thus
सर्वम्sarvamall; entirely
तत्tatthat; this
सत्यम्satyamtruth; reality
सःsaḥhe; that one
आत्माātmāthe Ātman; the inner self
तत्tatthat; this
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
असिasiare you; you
श्वेतकेतोśvetaketoO Śvetaketu; Śvetaketu
इतिitithus; how
तत्tatthat; this
हhaindeed; surely
अस्यasyaof this; it
विजज्ञौvijajñauhe understood (perfect of vi + √jñā); he has realised; he understood
इतिitithus; how
विजज्ञौvijajñauhe understood (perfect of vi + √jñā); he has realised; he understood
इतिitithus; how
Translation
"As he is not burnt there — so all this has Him for its essence; that is the truth; that is the ātman. You are that, Śvetaketu." And he understood his word — he understood.
Version
7ec323cd075d · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:42:00 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The ninth and last tat tvam asi — and its link with the parable is unexpectedly tender: "as he is not burnt there" — so are you. He who stands in truth passes through fire — and the highest truth about you is precisely your kinship with Being; wrap yourself in it, as the innocent man wraps himself in his innocence, and no fire of this world, no grief, not the death shown in the last parable, will find anything combustible in you. The lie about me — "I am the body, I perish" — is what burns; the truth about me does not burn.
And the chapter closes with the word the father was working nine parables for: tad dhāsya vijajñāv iti vijajñāv iti — "and he understood — he understood". With the same doubled verb the fasting experiment ended (6.7.6): understanding came not after the first formula but after a long road of tables, hunger, seed, salt and deathbed — truth is assimilated not by hearing but by a whole lived succession of lessons. The braggart who came home from school "having learned everything" has become a son who has learned his origin.
So the sad-vidyā ends. One who has heard it in a Vaiṣṇava key carries away three things: Being is a living Creator who desired and who entered the world with his own living soul; the soul is his subtle essence, undying and akin to him — the same nature in a different measure, salt in his water; and the knowledge of this comes only through an ācārya who takes off the bandage — and ends not in dissolution but in a homecoming, where a traveller's delay lasts "only until he is released; then he is home".