Upanishads · Chāndogya 8,4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् यः एव एतम् ब्रह्मलोकम् ब्रह्मचर्येण अनुविन्दन्ति तेषाम् एव एषः ब्रह्मलोकः तेषाम् सर्वेषु लोकेषु कामचारः भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
tat yaḥ eva etam brahmalokam brahmacaryeṇa anuvindanti teṣām eva eṣaḥ brahmalokaḥ teṣām sarveṣu lokeṣu kāmacāraḥ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवevaindeed; surely
एतम्etamit; of this
ब्रह्मलोकम्brahmalokamthe Brahman-world; the abode of Brahman
ब्रह्मचर्येणbrahmacaryeṇaby brahmacarya (brahmacarya, instrumental — the life of a student); by studentship; by brahmacarya
अनुविन्दन्तिanuvindantithey find it (anu + √vid); they gain; they discover
तेषाम्teṣāmof them; for them
एवevaindeed; surely
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
ब्रह्मलोकःbrahmalokaḥthe Brahman-world; the abode of Brahman
तेषाम्teṣāmof them; for them
सर्वेषुsarveṣuin all; among all
लोकेषुlokeṣuin the worlds; in the abodes
कामचारःkāmacāraḥfree movement of will (kāma-cāra); going according to desire; freedom of will
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
Translation
And this world of Brahman belongs to those who find it by brahmacarya: theirs is this world of Brahman, and in all the worlds they have free movement.
Version
507387537d42 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:51:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The manner of crossing is named too: brahmacarya, the life of a student, a walking with Brahman. Not a rite, not accumulated merit (these stay on this side of the bridge, 8.4.1), but the very order of a consecrated life: chastity, service to a teacher, the gathering of all one's powers upon one thing.
The word is chosen with a long aim: the next khaṇḍa (8.5) will disclose brahmacarya as the secret name of all austerities at once — sacrifice, fasting, silence, the hermit life — and the chapter's second half will show it in a person: Indra will live in brahmacarya a hundred and one years for the sake of five words of truth. The bridge is crossed not by an impulse but by a life of a certain order; and "free movement in all the worlds" (kāmacāra) is given to one who has first voluntarily narrowed his will down to discipleship.