Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 1,12.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथातः शौवः उद्गीथः तत् ह बकः दाल्भ्यः ग्लावः वा मैत्रेयः स्वाध्यायम् उद्वव्राज
Transliteración (IAST)
athātaḥ śauvaḥ udgīthaḥ tat ha bakaḥ dālbhyaḥ glāvaḥ vā maitreyaḥ svādhyāyam udvavrāja
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अथातःathātaḥnow further; after this
शौवःśauvaḥcanine (śauva — 'of dogs'); belonging to dogs; of the dogs
उद्गीथःudgīthaḥudgītha; the exalted chant
तत्tatthat; this
हhaindeed; surely
बकःbakaḥBaka; the sage Baka
दाल्भ्यःdālbhyaḥDālbhya; a descendant of Dalbha
ग्लावःglāvaḥGlāva; the sage Glāva
वाvāverily; surely
मैत्रेयःmaitreyaḥMaitreya; a descendant of Mitra
स्वाध्यायम्svādhyāyamfor private recitation (svādhyāya — the repetition of the Vedas); for recitation; for svādhyāya
उद्वव्राजudvavrājahe went out (ud-√vraj, perfect); he set out; went off
Traducción
Now next, the udgītha of the dogs. Baka Dālbhya — or Glāva Maitreya — once went out for quiet recitation [of the Vedas].
Versión
f6440ff3c797 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 22:31:57 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The most unexpected khaṇḍa in the Vedas: śauva udgīthaḥ — "the udgītha of the dogs"! The hero is Baka Dālbhya, already known to us (also called Glāva Maitreya — the double name preserves two lines of tradition), the knower of the prāṇa from khaṇḍa 2 (verse 1.2.13: the udgātṛ of the men of Naimiśa!) — svādhyāyam udvavrāja — "he went out for svādhyāya", the solitary repetition of the Vedas.
What he is about to see and hear is a vision granted in the midst of practice: dogs singing a liturgy about food. Tradition reads the scene two ways, and both readings hold: as a revelation (all nature, dogs included, performs one and the same service — for daily bread) and as sacred satire (priests who sing for their keep, seen from outside, through the eyes of hungry dogs). The Upaniṣad knows how to laugh — and its laughter is holy: it does not degrade the rite but shows it from below, out of a creature's hunger, where every song is "give us to eat".