Upanishads · Chāndogya 8,6.6
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् एषः श्लोकः शतम् च एका च हृदयस्य नाड्यः तासाम् मूर्धानम् अभिनिःसृता एका तया ऊर्ध्वम् आयन् अमृतत्वम् एति विष्वङ् अन्याः उत्क्रमणे भवन्ति उत्क्रमणे भवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
tat eṣaḥ ślokaḥ śatam ca ekā ca hṛdayasya nāḍyaḥ tāsām mūrdhānam abhiniḥsṛtā ekā tayā ūrdhvam āyan amṛtatvam eti viṣvaṅ anyāḥ utkramaṇe bhavanti utkramaṇe bhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
श्लोकःślokaḥa verse; a stanza
शतम्śatama hundred (śata); a hundred; a hundred
चcaand; as well as
एकाekāone (ekā, feminine); the one; the one and only
चcaand; as well as
हृदयस्यhṛdayasyaof the heart; of the heart's centre
नाड्यःnāḍyaḥthe channels; the veins
तासाम्tāsāmof them; for them
मूर्धानम्mūrdhānamto the crown (mūrdhan, accusative); to the top of the head; to the crown of the head
अभिनिःसृताabhiniḥsṛtāit goes out (abhi-niḥ-sṛtā — 'led forth'); it is led out; issues
एकाekāone (ekā, feminine); the one; the one and only
तयाtayāby her; by this
ऊर्ध्वम्ūrdhvamhigher; further
आयन्āyanrising up (from √i — 'going'); ascending; going
अमृतत्वम्amṛtatvamto immortality (amṛtatva); toward immortality; into deathlessness
एतिetiattains; comes to
विष्वङ्viṣvaṅin all directions (viṣvañc); asunder; in all directions
अन्याःanyāḥother; the rest
उत्क्रमणेutkramaṇefor the going out (utkramaṇa, locative); at the departure; for the exit
भवन्तिbhavantibecome; are
उत्क्रमणेutkramaṇefor the going out (utkramaṇa, locative); at the departure; for the exit
भवन्तिbhavantibecome; are
Translation
Of this there is this verse: "A hundred and one are the channels of the heart; one of them runs out to the crown of the head. Going upward by it, one goes to immortality; the others lead away in all directions — lead away in all directions."
Version
576680a1432e · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:52:58 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A sealing śloka, one of the most famous in the Veda: a hundred and one channels, and only one runs to the crown, to immortality; the other hundred run off "in all directions" — into new wanderings. The Kaṭha Upaniṣad will repeat it word for word (2.3.16), and the Gītā will restate it: "closing all the gates and confining the mind in the heart… with Oṁ on the lips" (BG 8.12–13).
The verse's arithmetic is at once severe and merciful. Severe: of a hundred and one exits, one saves — at the departure it is easy to mistake the door, and therefore the departure is prepared by a whole lifetime: wherever the attention has flowed for years, thither it will flow at the last hour. Merciful: there is a road after all, and it is laid, lit and named — heart, crown, ray, sun, Oṁ. The doubled repetition of the last words puts a full stop to the chapter's "technical" part; what follows is the story for whose sake it was written: Indra's hundred and one years with Prajāpati. Note the coincidence of numbers: a hundred and one channels, a hundred and one years; the journey by the single vein to immortality is precisely what Indra will spend a century learning.