ससागरां सपर्वतां सप्तद्वीपां वसुन्धरां तत्साम्नः प्रथमं पादं जानीयात् । यक्षगन्धर्वाप्सरोगणसेवितमन्तरिक्षं तत्साम्नो द्वितीयं पादं जानीयाद्वसुरुद्रादित्यैः सर्वैर्देवैः सेवितं दिवं तत्साम्नस्तृतीयं पादं जानीयात् । ब्रह्मस्वरूपं निरञ्जनं परमं व्योमकं तत्साम्नश्चतुर्थं पादं जानीयाद्यो जानीते सोऽमृतत्वं च गच्छति
sasāgarāṃ saparvatāṃ saptadvīpāṃ vasundharāṃ tatsāmnaḥ prathamaṃ pādaṃ jānīyāt | yakṣagandharvāpsarogaṇasevitamantarikṣaṃ tatsāmno dvitīyaṃ pādaṃ jānīyādvasurudrādityaiḥ sarvairdevaiḥ sevitaṃ divaṃ tatsāmnastṛtīyaṃ pādaṃ jānīyāt | brahmasvarūpaṃ nirañjanaṃ paramaṃ vyomakaṃ tatsāmnaścaturthaṃ pādaṃ jānīyādyo jānīte so'mṛtatvaṃ ca gacchati
The earth with its oceans, mountains and seven islands let him know as the first quarter of this chant; the middle region, frequented by hosts of yakṣas, gandharvas and apsarases, — as the second quarter; heaven, frequented by the Vasus, Rudras, Ādityas and all the gods, — as the third quarter; and that which has the nature of Brahman, unstained, highest and celestial — as the fourth quarter. Who knows this attains immortality.
be7cb15c43b9 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 4:39:50 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The four quarters of the mantra are matched with the four worlds: earth, the middle region, heaven, and what is beyond them.
This device is constant in the Upaniṣads and is called upāsanā: one thing is laid upon another so that the small may become an entrance into the great. So the Chāndogya lays the udgītha upon the sun, and the breath upon Brahman.
Note the structure of the ladder. The first three steps are worlds, each with its inhabitants: men on earth, yakṣas and gandharvas in the air, the Vasus and Ādityas in heaven.
And the fourth is not a world. It is called brahma-svarūpa, “having the nature of Brahman”, and nirañjana, “unstained”.
The same structure we saw in the thirty-sixth section of the Atharvaśiras and in the second section of the Brahma Upaniṣad: three, and a fourth that is not in the row.
The word pāda means both “quarter” and “foot”. The Māṇḍūkya speaks of the four feet of the Ātman; here — of the four quarters of a verse. The coincidence is deliberate: the metre and the Ātman each have four quarters, and the whole upāsanā is to see them as one.