Section 6.8
Original Sanskrit
6.8.1 उद्दालको हारुणिः श्वेतकेतुं पुत्रमुवाच स्वप्नान्तं मे सोम्य विजानीहीति यत्रैतत्पुरुषः स्वपिति नाम सता सोम्य तदा सम्पन्नो भवति स्वमपीतो भवति तस्मादेनँ स्वपितीत्याचक्षते स्वँह्यपीतो भवति ॥ १ ॥
6.8.2 स यथा शकुनिः सूत्रेण प्रबद्धो दिशं दिशं पतित्वान्यत्रायतनमलब्ध्वा बन्धनमेवोपश्रयत एवमेव खलु सोम्य तन्मनो दिशं दिशं पतित्वान्यत्रायतनमलब्ध्वा प्राणमेवोपश्रयते प्राणबन्धनँ हि सोम्य मन इति ॥ २ ॥
6.8.3 अशनापिपासे मे सोम्य विजानीहीति यत्रैतत्पुरुषोऽशिशिषति नामाप एव तदशितं नयन्ते तद्यथा गोनायोऽश्वनायः पुरुषनाय इत्येवं तदप आचक्षतेऽशनायेति तत्रितच्छुङ्गमुत्पतितँ सोम्य विजानीहि नेदममूलं भविष्यतीति ॥ ३ ॥
6.8.4 तस्य क्व मूलँ स्यादन्यत्रान्नादेवमेव खलु सोम्यान्नेन शुङ्गेनापो मूलमन्विच्छाद्भिः सोम्य शुङ्गेन तेजोमूलमन्विच्छ तेजसा सोम्य शुङ्गेन सन्मूलमन्विच्छ सन्मूलाः सोम्येमाः सर्वाः प्रजाः सदायतनाः सत्प्रतिष्ठाः ॥ ४ ॥
6.8.5 अथ यत्रैतत्पुरुषः पिपासति नाम तेज एव तत्पीतं नयते तद्यथा गोनायोऽश्वनायः पुरुषनाय इत्येवं तत्तेज आचष्ट उदन्येति तत्रैतदेव शुङ्गमुत्पतितँ सोम्य विजानीहि नेदममूलं भविष्यतीति ॥ ५ ॥
6.8.6 तस्य क्व मूलँ स्यादन्यत्राद्भ्य्ऽद्भिः सोम्य शुङ्गेन तेजो मूलमन्विच्छ तेजसा सोम्य शुङ्गेन सन्मूलमन्विच्छ सन्मूलाः सोम्येमाः सर्वाः प्रजाः सदायतनाः सत्प्रतिष्ठा यथा नु खलु सोम्येमास्तिस्रो देवताः पुरुषं प्राप्य त्रिवृत्त्रिवृदेकैका भवति तदुक्तं पुरस्तादेव भवत्यस्य सोम्य पुरुषस्य प्रयतो वाङ्मनसि सम्पद्यते मनः प्राणे प्राणस्तेजसि तेजः परस्यां देवतायाम् ॥ ६ ॥
6.8.7 स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदँ सर्वं तत्सत्यँ स आत्मा तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो इति भूय एव मा भगवान्विज्ञापयत्विति तथा सोम्येति होवाच ॥ ७ ॥
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from the Sanskrit, independently of the Plain English edition. All eight books and the closing invocation are retained.
6.8.1 Uddalaka Aruni said to his son Shvetaketu, "Learn from me, my dear, about the state of sleep. When a person is said to sleep, my dear, he has become one with Being; he has entered his own. That is why they call him svapiti, 'he sleeps': he has entered his own.
6.8.2 "As a bird bound by a cord flies in every direction and, finding no other resting place, settles back upon its tether, so, my dear, the mind flies in every direction and, finding no other resting place, settles back upon the life-breath. For the mind, my dear, is tethered to the life-breath.
6.8.3 "Learn from me, my dear, about hunger and thirst. When a person is said to be hungry, water is carrying away what he has eaten. Just as one speaks of a leader of cattle, a leader of horses, or a leader of people, so they call water ashanaya, 'leader of food.' Recognize this, my dear, as a shoot that has sprung up. It cannot be without a root.
6.8.4 "Where could its root be, except in food? So, my dear, with food as the shoot, seek water as the root. With water as the shoot, my dear, seek heat as the root. With heat as the shoot, my dear, seek Being as the root. All these creatures, my dear, have Being as their root, Being as their dwelling place, Being as their firm foundation.
6.8.5 "Now, when a person is said to be thirsty, heat is carrying away what he has drunk. Just as one speaks of a leader of cattle, a leader of horses, or a leader of people, so they call heat udanya, 'leader of water.' Recognize this, my dear, as that very shoot that has sprung up. It cannot be without a root.
6.8.6 "Where could its root be, except in water? With water as the shoot, my dear, seek heat as the root. With heat as the shoot, my dear, seek Being as the root. All these creatures, my dear, have Being as their root, Being as their dwelling place, Being as their firm foundation. How each of these three deities becomes threefold on entering a person has already been told. When this person departs, my dear, his speech merges into mind, mind into the life-breath, the life-breath into heat, and heat into the highest deity.
6.8.7 "That subtle essence—all this has that as its Self. That is the real. That is the Self. You are that, Shvetaketu." "Sir, make me understand further." "So be it, my dear," he said.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the Sanskrit, not from the Musean edition. All eight books and the closing invocation are retained.
6.8.1 Uddalaka Aruni told his son Shvetaketu, "My dear, learn from me about the state of sleep. When a person is said to sleep, they have become united with Being. They have entered their own. That is why people say svapiti, 'he sleeps,' because he has entered his own.
6.8.2 "A bird tied by a string flies in every direction. Finding nowhere else to rest, it returns to the place where it is tied. In just the same way, my dear, the mind flies in every direction. Finding nowhere else to rest, it returns to the life-breath. For the mind, my dear, is tied to the life-breath.
6.8.3 "My dear, learn from me about hunger and thirst. When a person is said to be hungry, water is leading away what they have eaten. Just as people speak of someone who leads cattle, horses, or people, they call water ashanaya, 'leader of food.' Recognize this, my dear, as a shoot that has sprung up. It cannot be without a root.
6.8.4 "Where could its root be except in food? In the same way, my dear, take food as the shoot and look for water as its root. Take water as the shoot and look for heat as its root. Take heat as the shoot and look for Being as its root. My dear, all these creatures have Being as their root, Being as their home, and Being as their foundation.
6.8.5 "When a person is said to be thirsty, heat is leading away what they have drunk. Just as people speak of someone who leads cattle, horses, or people, they call heat udanya, 'leader of water.' Recognize this, my dear, as that same shoot that has sprung up. It cannot be without a root.
6.8.6 "Where could its root be except in water? My dear, take water as the shoot and look for heat as its root. Take heat as the shoot and look for Being as its root. My dear, all these creatures have Being as their root, Being as their home, and Being as their foundation. I have already explained how each of these three deities becomes threefold when it enters a person. My dear, when a person is dying, their speech merges into the mind, their mind into the life-breath, their life-breath into heat, and heat into the highest deity.
6.8.7 "This finest essence is the Self of this whole world. That is what is real. That is the Self. You are that, Shvetaketu." "Sir, please help me understand this further." "Yes, my dear," he said.
About this section
Section 6.8 is part of Chandogya Upanishad by Unknown. This page sets the Sanskrit original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 105 of 154 in the work, which is kept in the Hindu tradition.
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