Upanishads · Chāndogya 7,4.1
॥
Devanāgarī
संकल्पः वाव मनसः भूयान् यदा वै संकल्पयते अथ मनस्यति अथ वाचम् ईरयति ताम् उ नाम्नीयूअति नाम्नि मन्त्राः एकम् भवन्ति मन्त्रेषु कर्माणि
Transliteration (IAST)
saṃkalpaḥ vāva manasaḥ bhūyān yadā vai saṃkalpayate atha manasyati atha vācam īrayati tām u nāmnīyūati nāmni mantrāḥ ekam bhavanti mantreṣu karmāṇi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
संकल्पःsaṃkalpaḥthe intention (saṁkalpa — the resolve of will, from sam + √kḷp); intention; determination
वावvāvatruly; indeed
मनसःmanasaḥthan the mind; of thinking
भूयान्bhūyāngreater still; surpassing [all]
यदाyadāwhen; at the moment when
वैvaiverily; indeed
संकल्पयतेsaṃkalpayatehe forms an intention (a denominative); he resolves; he intends
अथathathereupon; then
मनस्यतिmanasyatihe thinks; he intends
अथathathereupon; then
वाचम्vācamspeech; the word
ईरयतिīrayatiit sets in motion (from √īr — 'to stir up'); it moves; it raises up
ताम्tāmit; that
उusurely; indeed
नाम्नीयूअतिnāmnīyūatihe directs toward the name; he joins with the name
नाम्निnāmniin the name; in the designation
मन्त्राःmantrāḥthe mantras (mantra); the sacred words; mantras
एकम्ekamone; single
भवन्तिbhavantibecome; are
मन्त्रेषुmantreṣuin the mantras; among the sacred texts
कर्माणिkarmāṇithe rites (karman); actions; rites
Translation
"Resolve is greater than the mind. When a man forms a resolve, then he thinks, then he sets speech in motion, and directs it into a name. In a name the mantras merge, and in the mantras the rites.
Version
19f7210ddccc · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:44:07 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth rung: saṁkalpa — resolve, will-and-determination, "let it be so". Before the mind sets about thinking, a decision to think must occur: saṁkalpa is the spring that sets the mind going, the mind speech, speech name. The whole chain of culture — mantras, rites — hangs like a cluster from the single stalk of resolve.
The word saṁkalpa is familiar to anyone who has performed a rite: every Vedic act begins with a solemn "saṁkalpa", the announcing of an intention. The Upaniṣad raises this custom into metaphysics: intention is not a formality before an act but the act itself in seed. Hence the spiritual life too begins not with deeds but with a change of resolve — with that "yes" which the heart says before any practice.