Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 7,23.1
॥
Devanāgarī
यः वै भूमा तत् सुखम् न अल्पे सुखम् अस्ति भूमा एव सुखम् भूमा तु एव विजिज्ञासितव्यः इति भूमानं भगवः विजिज्ञासे इति
Transliteración (IAST)
yaḥ vai bhūmā tat sukham na alpe sukham asti bhūmā eva sukham bhūmā tu eva vijijñāsitavyaḥ iti bhūmānaṃ bhagavaḥ vijijñāse iti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
यःyaḥwho; the one who
वैvaiverily; indeed
भूमाbhūmāthe Boundless (bhūman — 'fullness, immensity'); the Fullness; the Bhūman
तत्tatthat; this
सुखम्sukhamhappiness (sukha); gladness; bliss
नnanot; no
अल्पेalpein the little (alpa, locative); in the finite; in what is small
सुखम्sukhamhappiness (sukha); gladness; bliss
अस्तिastiam; exists
भूमाbhūmāthe Boundless (bhūman — 'fullness, immensity'); the Fullness; the Bhūman
एवevaindeed; surely
सुखम्sukhamhappiness (sukha); gladness; bliss
भूमाbhūmāthe Boundless (bhūman — 'fullness, immensity'); the Fullness; the Bhūman
तुtubut; surely
एवevaindeed; surely
विजिज्ञासितव्यःvijijñāsitavyaḥone must seek to know it (desiderative); one must desire to know; is to be known
इतिitithus; how
भूमानंbhūmānaṃthe Bhūman; the boundless fullness
भगवःbhagavaḥvenerable one; sir
विजिज्ञासेvijijñāseI wish to know; I would investigate
इतिitithus; how
Traducción
"The Boundless is happiness. In the small there is no happiness: happiness is the Boundless alone. But the Boundless must be sought to be comprehended." — "I seek to comprehend the Boundless, sir."
Versión
a18a88442645 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:48:34 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here is the heart of the chapter, one of the summits of the whole Veda: yo vai bhūmā tat sukhaṁ nālpe sukham asti — "the Boundless is happiness; in the small there is no happiness". Bhūman is Fullness, Unboundedness, That which has no edge. All Nārada's sorrows are diagnosed in one line: he sought happiness in the alpa — in the small, in eighteen sciences, in finite things — and the small cannot give happiness, not out of stinginess but by definition: the finite has an edge, and joy in it has the same edge; every "small" happiness is already poisoned by its ending.
This is not an ascetic contempt for joy — quite the reverse: the Upaniṣad trusts the thirst for happiness unreservedly (the whole chain of 7.16–22 rests on it!) and only points out its true address: the thirst is boundless, and only the Boundless can slake it. The heart is not mistaken in wanting happiness; it is mistaken in the address.
The Vedānta of bhakti reads the name bhūman with love: Fullness is not an impersonal extension but that Full One from whom the full is taken and in whom it does not diminish (pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idam); raso vai saḥ — "he is rasa itself": having tasted him, the soul says "enough" for the first time (cf. Taittirīya 2.7). Happiness and God are not two subjects: they are one subject, and Nārada's chapter has proved it more strictly than any treatise.