Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 5,10.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मिन् यावत् संपातम् उषित्वा अथ एतम् एव अध्वानम् पुनः निवर्तन्ते आकाशम् आकाशात् वायुम् वायुः भूत्वा धूमः भवति धूमः भूत्वा अभ्रम् भवति
Transliteración (IAST)
tasmin yāvat saṃpātam uṣitvā atha etam eva adhvānam punaḥ nivartante ākāśam ākāśāt vāyum vāyuḥ bhūtvā dhūmaḥ bhavati dhūmaḥ bhūtvā abhram bhavati
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तस्मिन्tasminin It; in this
यावत्yāvatas long as; as far as
संपातम्saṃpātamthe residue [of merit] (saṁpāta — 'what still drips down'); the unspent remainder; the remnant of the fruits
उषित्वाuṣitvāhaving dwelt (from √vas — 'to stay'); having stayed as a guest; having lived there
अथathathereupon; then
एतम्etamit; of this
एवevaindeed; surely
अध्वानम्adhvānamby the road (adhvan — 'the way'); dear one; by the same route
पुनःpunaḥagain; back
निवर्तन्तेnivartantethey return (ni + √vṛt); they turn back; they go back
आकाशम्ākāśamspace; ether
आकाशात्ākāśātout of space; from the ether
वायुम्vāyumthe wind; Vāyu
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind; Vāyu
भूत्वाbhūtvāhaving become (from √bhū); having turned into; having turned into
धूमःdhūmaḥsmoke; the smoke-form
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
धूमःdhūmaḥsmoke; the smoke-form
भूत्वाbhūtvāhaving become (from √bhū); having turned into; having turned into
अभ्रम्abhramthe cloud; the rain-cloud
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
Traducción
Having stayed there until the remainder [of merit] is spent, they return by the same road: into space, from space into the wind; having become wind, they become smoke; having become smoke, they become mist;
Versión
be2548defb1a · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:29:09 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Yāvat saṁpātam — "until the remainder is spent": lunar bliss has a term, like a lease. Then the return, and the Upaniṣad conducts it with pitiless detail: space, wind, smoke, mist… A soul that ascended as a person descends as substance — nameless moisture in the round of nature. This chapter says nothing more humiliating: one who has been "food of the gods" comes back as vapour.
The Gītā compresses the lesson into one line: kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti — "their merit exhausted, they enter the world of mortals; thus those who crave desires obtain going and returning" (BG 9.21). A religion of accumulated merit — kindly, honest — remains a commerce with heaven, and every commerce ends in a reckoning. Not to accumulate but to give oneself away: only that change moves a soul from the smoky path to the bright one.