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

Fire, Sun, and Lightning

Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.2

वायुः सन्धानम् । इत्यधिलोकम् । अथाधिजौतिषम् । अग्निः पूर्वरूपम् । आदित्य उत्तररूपम् । आपः सन्धिः । वैद्युतः सन्धानम् । इत्यधिज्यौतिषम् । अथाधिविद्यम् । आचार्यः पूर्वरूपम्

Meaning · English

Wind links them: that is the world. Now the lights: fire first, sun after, water where they meet, lightning the link. Now learning: the teacher comes first.

The teaching runs on one pattern of four parts: a first form, a later form, the meeting point between them, and the thing that links them. It closes the world with wind as the link. Then it turns to the lights in the sky. Fire comes first, and the sun comes after. Water is where they meet, and lightning is what joins them. Then it opens a third pairing, learning, and names the teacher as the first form.

Picture a zipper on a jacket. There is the left row of teeth, the right row, the closed seam where they lock, and the small slider that draws them together. Every pair the teacher names has those four pieces. Fire and the sun are the two rows, water is the seam, and lightning is the slider.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Earth, Sky, and Between · Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.1
• Next: Mother, Father, and Child · Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.3
• All of Upanishads · Ask Krishna about it

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