Chandogya Upanishad (english Translation)

by Swami Lokeswarananda | 165,421 words | ISBN-10: 8185843910 | ISBN-13: 9788185843919

This is the English translation of the Chandogya-upanishad, including a commentary based on Swami Lokeswarananda’s weekly discourses; incorporating extracts from Shankara’s bhasya. The Chandogya Upanishad is a major Hindu philosophical text incorporated in the Sama Veda, and dealing with meditation and Brahman. This edition includes the Sanskrit t...

Verse 1.12.1

अथातः शौव उद्गीथस्तद्ध बको दाल्भ्यो ग्लावो वा मैत्रेयः स्वाध्यायमुद्वव्राज ॥ १.१२.१ ॥

athātaḥ śauva udgīthastaddha bako dālbhyo glāvo vā maitreyaḥ svādhyāyamudvavrāja || 1.12.1 ||

1. Now, an udgītha [to food] sung by dogs. The story is: Baka Dālbhya, who was also known as Glāva Maitreya, went one day to a quiet place to study the scriptures [the udgītha].

Word-for-word explanation:

Atha ataḥ, since then; tat ha, in this connection; śauvaḥ udgīthaḥ, an udgītha [to food] sung by dogs [i.e., sages in the form of dogs]; bakaḥ dālbhyaḥ, Baka, the son of Dalbha; glāvaḥ maitreyaḥ, or Glāva, the son of Mitrā; svādhyāyam udvavrāja, went to a quiet place to study the scriptures [i.e., the udgītha].

Commentary:

Sometimes people are driven by hunger to eat ‘unclean’ food. The story of Uṣasti is an example. Here, in this section, a story is told of how some dogs avoid such a situation: There was a sage who was known as Baka on his father’s side and Glāva on his mother’s side. Wanting to learn an udgītha that would bring him food, he went to a quiet place to study the scriptures.

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