उपनिषद् · Chāndogya 2,8.1
॥
देवनागरी
अथ सप्तविधस्य वाचि सप्तविधम् सामोपासीत यत् किंच वाचः हुम् इति सः हिङ्कारः यत् प्रैति सः प्रस्तावः यत् एति सः आदिः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
atha saptavidhasya vāci saptavidham sāmopāsīta yat kiṃca vācaḥ hum iti saḥ hiṅkāraḥ yat praiti saḥ prastāvaḥ yat eti saḥ ādiḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अथathathereupon; then
सप्तविधस्यsaptavidhasyaof the sevenfold; consisting of seven
वाचिvāciin speech (vāc); in the tongue; in utterance
सप्तविधम्saptavidhamsevenfold (sapta-vidha); seven-limbed; having seven limbs
सामोपासीतsāmopāsītait should be venerated as the sāman; let him contemplate the sāman
यत्yatwhich; that which
किंचkiṃcaanything; all that
वाचःvācaḥof speech; of speech
हुम्hum'hum' (hum); hum; the sound hum
इतिitithus; how
सःsaḥhe; that one
हिङ्कारःhiṅkāraḥhiṅkāra; the opening call hiṅ
यत्yatwhich; that which
प्रैतिpraitigoes; it goes forward
सःsaḥhe; that one
प्रस्तावःprastāvaḥprastāva; the opening part of the sāman
यत्yatwhich; that which
एतिetiattains; comes to
सःsaḥhe; that one
आदिःādiḥthe ādi ('the beginning' — the syllable Oṁ before the udgītha); the initial member; the opening Oṁ
अनुवाद
Now of the sevenfold. In speech one should venerate the sevenfold sāman: whatever "huṁ" there is in speech, that is the hiṅkāra; whatever "pra", that is the prastāva; whatever "ā", that is the ādi;
संस्करण
fe739afca9ae · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 10:38:01 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The adhyāya's second half deals with the saptavidha, the sevenfold sāman: to the five members are added ādi ("the beginning" — in practice the syllable Oṁ before the udgītha!) and upadrava ("the run-up" — the movement before the cadence): the full professional marking-up of a great chant.
And the first field is vāci — in speech, in language itself: yat kiñca vāco hum iti sa hiṅkāraḥ — "whatever 'huṁ' there is in speech is the hiṅkāra", yat preti sa prastāvaḥ — "whatever 'pra' is the prastāva", yad eti sa ādiḥ — "whatever 'ā' is the ādi": the syllables of everyday speech are identified as the scattered members of a sāman! In every "hm", in every prefix "pro-", in every "ā" there are shards of the great song: human speech is a sāman ground to powder, and one who knows hears in the day's chatter the roving beats of a liturgy.