उपनिषद् · Chāndogya 6,10.1
॥
देवनागरी
इमाः सोम्य नद्यः पुरस्तात् प्राच्यः स्यन्दन्ते पश्चात् प्रतीच्यः ताः समुद्रात् समुद्रम् एव अपियन्ति सः समुद्रः एव भवति ताः यथा तत्र न विदुः इयम् अहम् अस्मि इयम् अहम् अस्मि इति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
imāḥ somya nadyaḥ purastāt prācyaḥ syandante paścāt pratīcyaḥ tāḥ samudrāt samudram eva apiyanti saḥ samudraḥ eva bhavati tāḥ yathā tatra na viduḥ iyam aham asmi iyam aham asmi iti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
इमाःimāḥthese; these here
सोम्यsomyadear one; noble one
नद्यःnadyaḥthe rivers (nadī, plural); the streams; the rivers
पुरस्तात्purastāteastward (purastāt — 'in front, to the east'); to the east; toward the sunrise
प्राच्यःprācyaḥthe eastern (prācī); flowing eastward; the eastern
स्यन्दन्तेsyandantethey flow (from √syand — 'to stream'); they stream; flow
पश्चात्paścātwestward; behind
प्रतीच्यःpratīcyaḥthe western (pratīcī); flowing westward; the western
ताःtāḥthey; those; these
समुद्रात्samudrātout of the sea (samudra, ablative); from the ocean; out of the ocean
समुद्रम्samudraminto the sea (samudra, accusative); into the ocean; to the ocean
एवevaindeed; surely
अपियन्तिapiyantithey fall in (api + √i — 'to enter into'); they flow in; enter
सःsaḥhe; that one
समुद्रःsamudraḥthe ocean; the sea
एवevaindeed; surely
भवतिbhavatirevered lady; madam
ताःtāḥthey; those; these
यथाyathāhow; like
तत्रtatrathere; in this
नnanot; no
विदुःviduḥthey know; they understand [it to be]
इयम्iyamthis; she
अहम्ahamI; I myself
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
इयम्iyamthis; she
अहम्ahamI; I myself
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
इतिitithus; how
अनुवाद
"These rivers, my dear, flow: the eastern to the east, the western to the west. Out of the sea they enter into the sea, and it remains the sea. And there they do not know: 'I am this river', 'I am that river'.
संस्करण
34c3cb13f0e5 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 11:40:33 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The second parable is the rivers and the sea, the perennial image of souls returning to the Source. But let us read it with the text's own eyes: the rivers flow "out of the sea into the sea" (samudrāt samudram) — the sea is both their source and their mouth: clouds lifted its water, the rivers carry it back. The circle of water is the circle of souls: out of Being they came, by Being they live, into Being they flow.
And once again the point is not the merging but the oblivion: "they do not know: I am this river". The Gaṅgā, entering, does not remember herself as Gaṅgā. Name and channel are travelling gear; the water — the nature — remains water both in the channel and in the sea: it does not perish at the mouth, it comes home. The Vedānta of bhakti prizes this precision: union with Being is not the annihilation of a drop but a meeting of water with water, in which the difference of measure remains within an identity of nature; a river does not become "the whole sea" — it becomes of the sea.