चतुरङ्गुलवेष्टनमिव षण्णवतितत्त्वानि तन्तुवद्विभज्य तदा हितं त्रिगुणीकृत्य द्वात्रिंशत्तत्त्वनिष्कर्षमापाद्य ज्ञानपूतं त्रिगुणस्वरूपं त्रिमूर्तित्वं पृथग्विज्ञाय नवब्रह्माख्यनवगुणोपेतं ज्ञात्वा नवमानमितस्त्रिगुणीकृत्य सूर्येन्द्वग्निकलास्वरूपत्वेनैकीकृत्याद्यन्तरेकत्वमपि मध्ये त्रिरावृत्य ब्रह्मविष्णुमहेश्वरत्वमनुसंधायाद्यन्तमेकीकृत्य चिद्ग्रन्थावद्वैतग्रन्थिं कृत्वा नाभ्यादिब्रह्मबिलप्रमाणं पृथक् पृथक् सप्तविंशतितत्त्वसंबन्धं त्रिगुणोपेतं त्रिमूर्तिलक्षणलक्षितमप्येकत्वमापाद्य वामांसादिदक्षिणकण्ठ्यन्तं विभाव्याद्यन्तग्रहसंमेलनमेकं ज्ञात्वा मूलमेकं सत्यं मृण्मयं विज्ञातं स्याद्वाचारम्भणं विकारो नामधेयं मृत्तिकेत्येव सत्यम्
caturaṅgulaveṣṭanamiva ṣaṇṇavatitattvāni tantuvadvibhajya tadā hitaṃ triguṇīkṛtya dvātriṃśattattvaniṣkarṣamāpādya jñānapūtaṃ triguṇasvarūpaṃ trimūrtitvaṃ pṛthagvijñāya navabrahmākhyanavaguṇopetaṃ jñātvā navamānamitastriguṇīkṛtya sūryendvagnikalāsvarūpatvenaikīkṛtyādyantarekatvamapi madhye trirāvṛtya brahmaviṣṇumaheśvaratvamanusaṃdhāyādyantamekīkṛtya cidgranthāvadvaitagranthiṃ kṛtvā nābhyādibrahmabilapramāṇaṃ pṛthak pṛthak saptaviṃśatitattvasaṃbandhaṃ triguṇopetaṃ trimūrtilakṣaṇalakṣitamapyekatvamāpādya vāmāṃsādidakṣiṇakaṇṭhyantaṃ vibhāvyādyantagrahasaṃmelanamekaṃ jñātvā mūlamekaṃ satyaṃ mṛṇmayaṃ vijñātaṃ syādvācārambhaṇaṃ vikāro nāmadheyaṃ mṛttiketyeva satyam
…having divided the ninety-six elements, like threads… having made, in the knot of consciousness, the non-dual knot… the root is one and true: the clay-thing is known; speech is [merely] a grasping at a word, a modification, a naming — but the truth is clay.
b61fdf0dd093 · published Aug 6, 2026, 4:32:42 PM UTC
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The line is long and all in numbers; but it ends with the most famous passage of the Chāndogya (6.1.4), and it is of this we must speak. Uddālaka says to his son: "as by one lump of clay all that is made of clay is known; the modification is a grasping at a word, a naming; but the truth is that it is clay." This passage is the chief foundation of Advaita, and it is usually read thus: the pot does not exist, there is only clay.
Let me answer as Vaiṣṇava teachers have answered, and this answer is old. Uddālaka did not say there is no pot; he said the pot is vikāra, "a modification," and that "pot" is nāmadheya, "a naming." A modification exists — otherwise there would be nothing to name; and a naming is never empty — one names what exists.
The meaning of what is said is that, having known the clay, one also knows all the pots; that is, knowledge of the root gives knowledge of what derives from it. This is a statement about knowing, not about being. Let us add that Uddālaka leads this whole speech toward the words tat tvam asi; and that the clay in his example does not dissolve the pots but explains them. The pot, the jug, and the dish remain on the table, and people eat from them; but whoever knows the clay knows the main thing about them.
The Vaiṣṇava reading therefore does not consider the world illusory: it is vikāra, "a modification" of His power, and so real, but not independent. This is exactly the distinction between "distinct" and "separate," discussed when reading the Pāśupata (46).