Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 4,5.2
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मणः च ते पादम् ब्रवाणि इति ब्रवीतु मे भगवान् इति तस्मै ह उवाच प्राची दिक् कला प्रतिची दिक् कला दक्षिणा दिक् कला उदीची दिक् कला एषः वै सोम्य चतुष्कलः पादः ब्रह्मणः प्रकाशवान् नाम
Transliteración (IAST)
brahmaṇaḥ ca te pādam bravāṇi iti bravītu me bhagavān iti tasmai ha uvāca prācī dik kalā praticī dik kalā dakṣiṇā dik kalā udīcī dik kalā eṣaḥ vai somya catuṣkalaḥ pādaḥ brahmaṇaḥ prakāśavān nāma
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
ब्रह्मणःbrahmaṇaḥof Brahman; of the Absolute
चcaand; as well as
तेteto you; for you
पादम्pādama quarter (literally 'a foot', as of the Puruṣa in Ṛg-veda 10.90); one fourth part; the foot
ब्रवाणिbravāṇilet me tell (from √brū — 'to speak'); I shall declare; I shall declare
इतिitithus; how
ब्रवीतुbravītulet him tell; let him instruct
मेmemyself; for me
भगवान्bhagavānvenerable one; esteemed one
इतिitithus; how
तस्मैtasmaito Him; to him
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
प्राचीprācīthe eastern; turned to the east
दिक्dika quarter of the sky; the direction; a region of the sky
कलाkalāa portion (a part, a sixteenth; a small measure of the whole); a part; a particle
प्रतिचीpraticīthe western; turned to the west
दिक्dika quarter of the sky; the direction; a region of the sky
कलाkalāa portion (a part, a sixteenth; a small measure of the whole); a part; a particle
दक्षिणाdakṣiṇāsouthward; by the southern path
दिक्dika quarter of the sky; the direction; a region of the sky
कलाkalāa portion (a part, a sixteenth; a small measure of the whole); a part; a particle
उदीचीudīcīthe northern; turned to the north
दिक्dika quarter of the sky; the direction; a region of the sky
कलाkalāa portion (a part, a sixteenth; a small measure of the whole); a part; a particle
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
चतुष्कलःcatuṣkalaḥfourfold (catuḥ + kalā — 'of four portions'); consisting of four portions; the quadruple
पादःpādaḥquarter; foot
ब्रह्मणःbrahmaṇaḥof Brahman; of the Absolute
प्रकाशवान्prakāśavānthe Luminous (prakāśa-vat — 'possessing light'); possessed of radiance; the Radiant
नामnāmathe name; appellation
Traducción
And I shall tell you a quarter of Brahman." — "Let your reverence tell me." And the bull said to him: "The east is a portion, the west is a portion, the south is a portion, the north is a portion. This, my dear, is the four-portioned quarter of Brahman, and its name is the Shining (prakāśavān)."
Versión
074a7039f332 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:16:32 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The bull discloses the first of Brahman's four "feet" (pāda): the quarters of space. Space, running out to all four edges, is the first thing on which the eye may school itself in boundlessness: go where you will, the east remains the east, and no road will exhaust it. The name of this quarter is prakāśavān, "Possessing radiance": the quarters are known by light, and the expanse of the world is the first manifest shining of Him who illumines all.
The word pāda — "foot, quarter" — recalls the great hymn to the Puruṣa: "All beings are a quarter of him; three quarters are the immortal in heaven" (Ṛg-veda 10.90.3). The whole unfolded world, with all its quarters of space, is but one foot of the Supreme; the Gītā repeats: "With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and sustain this universe" (BG 10.42). Hence the bull's teaching is not a conclusion but a first step: to show that the visible expanse points beyond itself.
Knowledge is given to a pupil by measure — by quarters, by portions (kalā). So the ladder is built: from the radiance of space to the infinity of the elements, to the light of the luminaries, and to the support of life; the whole will be disclosed only by the ācārya.