Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1,3.26
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्य ह एतस्य साम्नः यः सुवर्णम् वेद भवति ह अस्य सुवर्णम् तस्य वै स्वरः एव सुवर्णम् भवति ह अस्य सुवर्णम् यः एवम् एतत् साम्नः सुवर्णम् वेद
Transliteration (IAST)
tasya ha etasya sāmnaḥ yaḥ suvarṇam veda bhavati ha asya suvarṇam tasya vai svaraḥ eva suvarṇam bhavati ha asya suvarṇam yaḥ evam etat sāmnaḥ suvarṇam veda
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्यtasyait; his
हhasurely; as is known
एतस्यetasyaof this; of this
साम्नःsāmnaḥthe samāna; of the chant
यःyaḥwho; the one who
सुवर्णम्suvarṇamgold (suvarṇa — 'of fair syllable/colour'); gold; gold
वेदvedaknows; realises
भवतिbhavatibecomes; he presents himself
हhasurely; as is known
अस्यasyait; of this
सुवर्णम्suvarṇamgold (suvarṇa — 'of fair syllable/colour'); gold; gold
तस्यtasyait; his
वैvaitruly; indeed
स्वरःsvaraḥsound; tone
एवevaindeed; only
सुवर्णम्suvarṇamgold (suvarṇa — 'of fair syllable/colour'); gold; gold
भवतिbhavatibecomes; he presents himself
हhasurely; as is known
अस्यasyait; of this
सुवर्णम्suvarṇamgold (suvarṇa — 'of fair syllable/colour'); gold; gold
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवम्evamthus; in this way
एतत्etatthis; the present
साम्नःsāmnaḥthe samāna; of the chant
सुवर्णम्suvarṇamgold (suvarṇa — 'of fair syllable/colour'); gold; gold
वेदvedaknows; realises
Translation
He who knows the gold of this sāman — gold comes to him. Its gold is sound itself. Gold comes to him who knows thus the gold of the sāman.
Version
325cfac1b2f2 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:42:16 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second possession is suvarṇa, gold, and the answer is the same: the gold of the sāman is sound. The wordplay runs deeper than it seems: su-varṇa is "of fair syllable and hue" (varṇa is both colour and the sound of speech); fair-soundingness is the fair-goldenness of a song.
The Upaniṣad reteaches the very notion of wealth: a singer is not asked what he has amassed but how he sounds. He who has put his life into the purity of the sacred sound walks about with a gold that cannot be stolen or spent; beside the song, all other gold is only a setting.