उपनिषद् · Chāndogya 4,17.10
॥
देवनागरी
मानवः ब्रह्म एव एकः ऋत्विक् कुरून् अश्वाभिरक्षति एवंवित् ह वै ब्रह्मा यज्ञम् यजमानम् सर्वान् च ऋत्विजः अभिरक्षति तस्मात् एवम्विदम् एव ब्रह्माणम् कुर्वीत न अनेवम्विदम् न अनेवम्विदम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
mānavaḥ brahma eva ekaḥ ṛtvik kurūn aśvābhirakṣati evaṃvit ha vai brahmā yajñam yajamānam sarvān ca ṛtvijaḥ abhirakṣati tasmāt evamvidam eva brahmāṇam kurvīta na anevamvidam na anevamvidam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
मानवःmānavaḥthe human (mānava — 'belonging to men'; by another reading, Manu's verse); of men; pertaining to men
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; sacred knowledge
एवevaindeed; surely
एकःekaḥone; alone
ऋत्विक्ṛtvikthe priest (ṛtvij — 'he who sacrifices in season'); the officiant; the priest
कुरून्kurūnthe Kurus (the field or clan of Kuru; here the camp of the rite); the Kuru land; the field of sacrifice
अश्वाभिरक्षतिaśvābhirakṣatihe guards it as a mare does (aśvā + abhi-rakṣati — 'he watches as a horse guards the camp'); he watches as a mare her foal; he keeps it under mounted guard
एवंवित्evaṃvithe who knows thus; one who has known in this way
हhaindeed; surely
वैvaiverily; indeed
ब्रह्माbrahmāthe brahman priest; the knower of Brahman
यज्ञम्yajñamsacrifice; the sacrifice
यजमानम्yajamānamthe sacrificer; him who performs the sacrifice
सर्वान्sarvānall; all
चcaand; as well as
ऋत्विजःṛtvijaḥthe priests; the officiants of the rite
अभिरक्षतिabhirakṣatihe guards (abhi + √rakṣ — 'to protect'); she protects; he defends
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
एवम्विदम्evamvidamsuch a knower; one who has known thus
एवevaindeed; surely
ब्रह्माणम्brahmāṇamthe brahman priest; of the knower of Brahman
कुर्वीतkurvītaone should appoint (optative of √kṛ — 'to make, to install'); he ought to be appointed; let him make [him the brahman]
नnanot; no
अनेवम्विदम्anevamvidamone who does not know (an-evam-vid — 'not knowing thus'); not knowing this; the unversed
नnanot; no
अनेवम्विदम्anevamvidamone who does not know (an-evam-vid — 'not knowing thus'); not knowing this; the unversed
अनुवाद
what is human: "The brahman-priest alone guards the Kurus, as a mare [guards her foal]." Truly a knowing brahman-priest guards the sacrifice, the sacrificer and all the priests. Therefore let one make brahman-priest only him who knows this — not one who does not know, not one who does not know.
संस्करण
e53cefc8aed9 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 11:23:57 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The gāthā compares the silent priest to a watchful mare (aśvābhirakṣati — "guards as a horse does") protecting her foal or a war-camp: three priests labour with their voices, this one with his vigilance, and his vigilance alone suffices to keep the "Kurus" — the field of the rite — safe. A knowing brahman "guards the sacrifice, the sacrificer and all the priests": his silent knowledge is a common shield under which the rest may err and be healed.
The chapter ends with a practical injunction doubly sealed: make brahman-priest one who knows, "not one who does not know, not one who does not know". In a matter where the wholeness of the sacrifice and the fate of the sacrificer are at stake, respectability without knowledge is no excuse: the watch over a holy thing may be entrusted only to one who knows its essence. Thereby the chapter closes upon itself: it began with a youth whose only property was the truth, and it ends by requiring that only a knower of truth be set at the head. Knowledge won by honesty and service — that is the one qualification the Upaniṣad recognises.
So the fourth adhyāya ends: Satyakāma, taught by nature and by a teacher; Upakosala, taught by the fires and by a teacher; and the brahman-physician who guards the sacrifice. Three tales about one thing: truth is handed on along a living chain, kept by silent faithfulness — and leads by the road of light to where there is no returning from.