Upanishads · Chāndogya 8,1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ यत् इदम् अस्मिन् ब्रह्मपुरे दहरं पुण्डरीकं वेश्म दहरः अस्मिन् अन्तराकाशः तस्मिन् यत् अन्तस् तत् अन्वेष्टव्यम् तत् वाव विजिज्ञासितव्यम् इति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha yat idam asmin brahmapure daharaṃ puṇḍarīkaṃ veśma daharaḥ asmin antarākāśaḥ tasmin yat antas tat anveṣṭavyam tat vāva vijijñāsitavyam iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
यत्yatwhich; that which
इदम्idamthis; thus
अस्मिन्asminupon It; in this
ब्रह्मपुरेbrahmapurein the city of Brahman (brahma-pura — the body as the King's capital); in Brahman's city; in the brahma-pura
दहरंdaharaṃsmall (dahara — 'tiny'); little; the small
पुण्डरीकंpuṇḍarīkaṃthe lotus (puṇḍarīka — the white lotus); lotus-like; the lotus
वेश्मveśmathe dwelling (veśman — 'an abode'); a dwelling; the home
दहरःdaharaḥthe small; the small
अस्मिन्asminupon It; in this
अन्तराकाशःantarākāśaḥthe inner space (antar-ākāśa); the space within; the inward expanse
तस्मिन्tasminin It; in this
यत्yatwhich; that which
अन्तस्antaswithin; the interior
तत्tatthat; this
अन्वेष्टव्यम्anveṣṭavyamit should be sought (anu + √iṣ, gerundive); it must be searched for; is to be sought
तत्tatthat; this
वावvāvatruly; indeed
विजिज्ञासितव्यम्vijijñāsitavyamone should seek to know it (desiderative gerundive of vi + √jñā); one must desire to know; is to be known
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Now: in this city of Brahman there is a small chamber — a lotus, and within it a small inner space. What is within that is what should be sought, what should be striven to be known.
Version
d8c116171c29 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:48:34 PM UTC
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The Chāndogya's last adhyāya opens with the dahara-vidyā, the knowledge of the "small" (dahara). The body is called brahma-pura, "the city of Brahman": not the soul's prison but the King's capital. In the city there is a small chamber, a lotus (the heart), and in the lotus a small space, and the Upaniṣad points a finger inside it: "what is within — seek it" (anveṣṭavyam). After all the ascents — by rungs of sāmans, fires, worlds and the Bhūman — the last search is directed neither upward nor outward but inward: the greatest is hidden in the smallest.
The image of the lotus of the heart will become native to all spiritual India: in this "small chamber" bhakti will lodge the Lord as the antaryāmin, the inner Ruler: "The Lord of all beings dwells in the region of the heart" (BG 18.61); "of the size of a thumb, the Puruṣa dwells in the heart" (Kaṭha 2.1.12). City, chamber, Dweller — the very arrangement of words teaches: the body deserves care as a capital, the heart as a palace, but what one must seek is not the walls but the King.
The double command — "to be sought and to be striven after in knowledge" — sets the tone of the whole chapter: it will be a chapter of searching, with a treasure underfoot, bandages on the eyes, and Indra's hundred years of discipleship. All of it is the unfolding of one line about a small lotus.