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 2.9.7

अथ यदूर्ध्वमपराह्णात्प्रागस्तमयात्स उपद्रवस्तदस्यारण्या अन्वायत्तास्तस्मात्ते पुरुषं दृष्ट्वा कक्षंश्वभ्रमित्युपद्रवन्त्युपद्रवभाजिनो ह्येतस्य साम्नः ॥ २.९.७ ॥

atha yadūrdhvamaparāhṇātprāgastamayātsa upadravastadasyāraṇyā anvāyattāstasmātte puruṣaṃ dṛṣṭvā kakṣaṃśvabhramityupadravantyupadravabhājino hyetasya sāmnaḥ || 2.9.7 ||

7. Next, the form that the sun has between the afternoon and sunset is called the upadrava. Wild animals are fond of this form, for when the sun is in that position, the wild animals are able to scurry away into the forest or into their holes if they see a human being. These animals are also able to take part in the upadrava to the Sāma.

Word-for-word explanation:

Atha, next; yat, that; ūrdhvam aparāhṇāt, as the afternoon begins; prāk astamayāt, before sunset; saḥ upadravaḥ, that is the upadrava; āraṇyāḥ, wild animals; tat asya, that [form] of [the sun]; anvāyattāḥ, are attached to; tasmāt, that is why; te, those [wild animals]; puruṣam, a human being; dṛṣṭvā, seeing; kakṣam, into their lair [or, the forest]; śvabhram, a hole; upadravanti, quickly run to; hi, for this reason; etasya sāmnaḥ upadravabhājinaḥ, they join in the upadrava offered to the Sāma.

Commentary:

In the later part of the afternoon, the animals are able to find food to sustain themselves, and they can also watch out for human beings. If they see one, they hurry back to the forest or to any place where they feel safe. Their going away in haste (upadruta) suggests that they worship the upadrava (i.e., ‘going back’) of the Sāma.

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