Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 5,11.7
॥
Devanāgarī
तान् ह उवाच प्रातः वः प्रतिवक्ता अस्मि इति ते ह समित्पाणयः पूर्वाह्णे प्रतिचक्रमिरे तान् ह अनुपनीय एव एतत् उवाच
Transliteración (IAST)
tān ha uvāca prātaḥ vaḥ prativaktā asmi iti te ha samitpāṇayaḥ pūrvāhṇe praticakramire tān ha anupanīya eva etat uvāca
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तान्tānof them; those
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
प्रातःprātaḥin the morning; in the morning
वःvaḥyour; for you
प्रतिवक्ताprativaktāI shall answer (prati-vaktā — 'I shall be the responder'); I will reply; I shall be your answerer
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
इतिitithus; how
तेteto you; for you
हhaindeed; surely
समित्पाणयःsamitpāṇayaḥwith firewood in their hands (samit-pāṇi — the sign of discipleship); carrying sacrificial firewood; with faggots
पूर्वाह्णेpūrvāhṇein the forenoon (pūrva-ahna — 'the first half of the day'); in the early morning; early in the day
प्रतिचक्रमिरेpraticakramirethey came (prati + √kram); they presented themselves; they approached
तान्tānof them; those
हhaindeed; surely
अनुपनीयanupanīyawithout initiating them (an-upanīya — 'without the upanayana rite'); without initiation; the upanayana not performed
एवevaindeed; surely
एतत्etatthis; all this
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
Traducción
He said to them: "In the morning I shall answer you." In the morning they came to him with fuel in their hands. And he, without even initiating them as pupils, spoke to them thus:
Versión
081bcbb15351 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:30:39 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Two details in this verse are worth treatises. The first: in the morning the six great men came samit-pāṇayaḥ — "with fuel in their hands", like brahmacārin boys before a teacher. Five owners of great houses and the famous Uddālaka carry bundles of kindling to a king: the gesture of complete discipleship, the Veda's oldest sign of "receive me" (cf. Muṇḍaka 1.2.12). No erudition exempts one from this bow — truth opens to one who has assumed the posture of a pupil.
The second: the king teaches them anupanīya — "without performing the initiation", without the formal rite of upanayana. Their fuel he accepted as initiation enough: where humility is genuine, the rite has already been performed in the heart. The Upaniṣad keeps the balance carefully: a seeker is obliged to come as a pupil — but a knower is free to see that the comer is already ready, and not to torment him with formalities. Mercy recognises its own faster than any chancery.