उपनिषद् · Chāndogya 5,11.7
॥
देवनागरी
तान् ह उवाच प्रातः वः प्रतिवक्ता अस्मि इति ते ह समित्पाणयः पूर्वाह्णे प्रतिचक्रमिरे तान् ह अनुपनीय एव एतत् उवाच
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tān ha uvāca prātaḥ vaḥ prativaktā asmi iti te ha samitpāṇayaḥ pūrvāhṇe praticakramire tān ha anupanīya eva etat uvāca
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
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
अनुवाद
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:
संस्करण
081bcbb15351 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 11:30:39 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
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.