Section 6.16
Original Sanskrit
6.16.1 पुरुषँ सोम्योत हस्तगृहीतमानयन्त्यपहार्षीत्स्तेयमकार्षीत्परशुमस्मै तपतेति स यदि तस्य कर्ता भवति तत एवानृतमात्मानं कुरुते सोऽनृताभिसन्धोऽनृतेनात्मानमन्तर्धाय परशुं तप्तं प्रतिगृह्णाति स दह्यतेऽथ हन्यते ॥ १ ॥
6.16.2 अथ यदि तस्याकर्ता भवति ततेव सत्यमात्मानं कुरुते स सत्याभिसन्धः सत्येनात्मानमन्तर्धाय परशुं तप्तं प्रतिगृह्णाति सन दह्यतेऽथ मुच्यते ॥ २ ॥
6.16.3 स यथा तत्र नादाह्येतैतदात्म्यमिदँ सर्वं तत्सत्यँ स आत्मा तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो इति तद्धास्य विजज्ञाविति विजज्ञाविति ॥ ३ ॥
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.
6.16.1 "My dear, they bring in a man seized by the hand: 'He took something! He committed theft! Heat an ax for him!' If he is the one who did it, he makes himself false. Bound to falsehood, covering himself with falsehood, he takes hold of the heated ax. He is burned, and then he is put to death.
6.16.2 "But if he is not the one who did it, he makes himself true. Bound to truth, covering himself with truth, he takes hold of the heated ax. He is not burned, and then he is released.
6.16.3 "Just as he would not be burned in that ordeal, all this has that as its Self. That is the real. That is the Self. You are that, Shvetaketu." Then he understood him—he understood him.
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.
6.16.1 "My dear, people bring in a man held by the hand, saying, 'He has taken something. He has committed theft. Heat an ax for him.' If he did it, he makes himself a liar. Committed to falsehood, covering himself in falsehood, he takes hold of the heated ax. He is burned and then killed.
6.16.2 "But if he did not do it, he makes himself truthful. Committed to truth, covering himself in truth, he takes hold of the heated ax. He is not burned and is then released.
6.16.3 "Just as he would not be burned in that ordeal, this whole world has that as its Self. That is what is real. That is the Self. You are that, Shvetaketu." He understood this from his father. He understood it.
About this section
Section 6.16 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 113 of 154 in the work, which is kept in the Hindu tradition.
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