Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 1,10.2
॥
Devanāgarī
सः ह इभ्यम् कुल्माषान् खादन्तम् बिभिक्षे तम् ह उवाच न इतः अन्ये विद्यन्ते यत् च ये मे इमे उपनिहिताः इति
Transliteración (IAST)
saḥ ha ibhyam kulmāṣān khādantam bibhikṣe tam ha uvāca na itaḥ anye vidyante yat ca ye me ime upanihitāḥ iti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhaindeed; surely
इभ्यम्ibhyamthe elephant-keeper; the wealthy villager
कुल्माषान्kulmāṣāncrushed beans (kulmāṣa — coarse fare); the bean-mash; the kulmāṣa
खादन्तम्khādantamwho was eating (from √khād); chewing; partaking
बिभिक्षेbibhikṣehe begged for alms (from √bhikṣ, perfect); he begged for alms; he asked for a dole
तम्tamit; that one
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
नnanot; no
इतःitaḥfrom here; from this world
अन्येanyeother; others
विद्यन्तेvidyantethere are; there are
यत्yatwhich; that which
चcaand; as well as
येyethose who; they who
मेmemyself; for me
इमेimethese; the present
उपनिहिताःupanihitāḥset [before me] (upa-ni-hita); served out; already begun
इतिitithus; how
Traducción
He begged of a rich man who was eating crushed beans. The man said to him: "There are no others here than these that lie set before me."
Versión
04617bf06828 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 22:31:57 UTC
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A scene at another man's meal: sa hebhyaṁ kulmāṣān khādantam bibhikṣe — "he begged of the rich man, who was eating kulmāṣa" — crushed beans, the coarse food of the poor (in a year of famine the rich man eats what everyone eats!). The answer is without generosity, but without refusal either: na ito 'nye vidyante — "there are no others than these before me [already begun]".
Uṣasti is offered leavings — food already tasted from another's hand: for a brāhmaṇa whose life is purity this is the utmost humiliation: ucchiṣṭa, the remnants of another's meal, are ritually unclean. How will a knower of dharma act on the edge of death by starvation? The next verses give his decision — one of the subtlest casuistical rulings in all Vedic literature: a living lesson in where a rule ends and its meaning begins.