The verse and its meaning · Upanishads · Taittiriya · Lessons for the Student

Earth, Sky, and Between

Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.1

सह नौ यशः । सह नौ ब्रह्मवर्चसम् । अथातः संहिताया उपनिषदं व्याख्यास्यामः । पञ्चस्वधिकरणेषु । अधिलोकमधिज्यौतिषमधिविद्यमधिप्रजमध्यात्मम् । ता महासँहिता इत्याचक्षते । अथाधिलोकम् । पृथिवी पूर्वरूपम् । द्यौरुत्तररूपम् । आकाशः सन्धिः

Meaning · English

May renown and the glow of learning be ours together. Now the hidden sense of joining, in five fields. First the worlds: earth first, sky after, space joins them.

Teacher and student first ask for two things to share: a good name, and the brightness that comes from sacred study. Then the teacher announces a lesson on joining, which he calls the great joinings. He will look at it in five areas: the world, the lights in the sky, learning, children, and one's own self. The first area begins at once. Earth is the earlier form, sky is the later form, and the open space between them is where the two meet.

Stand in an empty room. The floor is under your feet and the ceiling is overhead, but what you actually live in is the air between them. That gap is what makes floor and ceiling one room. Earth and sky are the floor and ceiling, and space is the room they make together.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Six Parts of Pronunciation · Taittiriya Upanishad 1.2.1
• Next: Fire, Sun, and Lightning · Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.2
• All of Upanishads · Ask Krishna about it

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