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 1.12.2
तस्म� श्वा श्वेतः प्रादुर्बभूव तमन्ये श्वा� उपसमेत्योचुरन्नं नो भगवानागायत्वशनायामवा इत� � �.१२.� �
tasmai ś śveta� ܰū tamanye śna upasametyocuranna� no āgāyatvaśanāyāmavā iti || 1.12.2 ||
2. A white dog appeared before him, as if he wanted to do the sage a favour. Then several other smaller dogs came to the white dog and said: ‘O Lord, please sing for us. We are hungry and we want some food�.
Word-for-word explanation:
Tasmai, [as a favour] to him; ś, a dog; ś�, white; ܰū, appeared; tam, to him [i.e., to the white dog]; anye śԲ�, other dogs; upasametya, came; ū�, [and] said; annam, food; Բ�, for us; , O Lord; 岵ⲹٳ, please sing; aśanāyāma vai iti, we are hungry [and want to eat].
Commentary:
It would seem that some god or sage was pleased with Baka’s Vedic studies and as a favour, appeared before him as a white dog. Then, as if by coincidence, some other smaller dogs approached the white dog and told him they were very hungry and needed food. They asked the white dog to sing the appropriate 峾 so that they could get some food immediately. Very likely, these small dogs were also sages in disguise.
Another explanation is also possible: The white dog represents ṇa, and the smaller dogs are the sense organs controlled by ṇa. Prāṇa is pleased when someone studies the scriptures. And if ṇa is pleased, the sense organs are able to perceive their respective sense objects well. Like dogs, the sense organs are ‘hungry� and enjoy perceiving. In order to express their appreciation of the scholar’s efforts, they appear before him as dogs.