Upanishads · Chāndogya 7,14.1
॥
Devanāgarī
आशा वाव स्मराद् भूयसी आशेद्धः वै स्मरः मन्त्रान् अधीते कर्माणि कुरुते पुत्रान् च पशून् च इच्छते इमम् च लोकम् अमुम् च इच्छते आशाम् उपास्स्व इति
Transliteration (IAST)
āśā vāva smarād bhūyasī āśeddhaḥ vai smaraḥ mantrān adhīte karmāṇi kurute putrān ca paśūn ca icchate imam ca lokam amum ca icchate āśām upāssva iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आशाāśāhope (āśā — expectation); trust; expectation
वावvāvatruly; indeed
स्मराद्smarādthan memory; from memory
भूयसीbhūyasīthe greater; greater still
आशेद्धःāśeddhaḥkindled by hope (āśā-iddha — 'lit by expectation'); set alight by hope; fired by expectation
वैvaiverily; indeed
स्मरःsmaraḥmemory; recollection
मन्त्रान्mantrānmantras; the sacred texts
अधीतेadhītehe studies (adhi + √i); he studies; he cons
कर्माणिkarmāṇideeds; rites
कुरुतेkurutehe performs (from √kṛ); makes; he carries out
पुत्रान्putrānher sons; her children
चcaand; as well as
पशून्paśūnanimals; cattle
चcaand; as well as
इच्छतेicchatedesires; longs for
इमम्imamthis; of this
चcaand; as well as
लोकम्lokamthe world; dwelling
अमुम्amumthat one; another
चcaand; as well as
इच्छतेicchatedesires; longs for
आशाम्āśāmhope; the good hoped for
उपास्स्वupāssvaworship; contemplate
इतिitithus; how
Translation
"Hope is greater than memory. Kindled by hope, memory learns the mantras, performs the rites, desires sons and cattle, desires this world and that. Venerate hope."
Version
e4558ae02788 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:46:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourteenth rung: āśā, hope and expectation. The metaphor of fire is exact: āśeddhaḥ smaraḥ — memory "kindled by hope", as fuel by flame. Why does a man study, labour, beget children, lay up for both worlds? — because he hopes. Take away hope and memory with all its treasures lies a cold warehouse: to what end?
The Upaniṣad sets expectation above all learning and all experience — a diagnosis piercingly true: a man lives not by what he has but by what he looks for. But hope has its own disease: it may hope for something small; then it drives one round the circle of desires. The cure is not to kill hope but to educate it: to turn the expectation from "this world and that" toward the Boundless — and hope becomes what bhakti calls āśā-bandha, "the bond of expectation", which holds a devotee to the path when everything else leaves him.