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

Mother, Father, and Child

Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.3

अन्तेवास्युत्तररूपम् । विद्या सन्धिः । प्रवचनँसन्धानम् । इत्यधिविद्यम् । अथाधिप्रजम् । माता पूर्वरूपम् । पितोत्तररूपम् । प्रजा सन्धिः । प्रजननँसन्धानम् । इत्यधिप्रजलम्

Meaning · English

The student is the second half, knowledge their meeting, instruction the link. Of offspring: mother is the first half, father the second, the child their meeting, begetting the link.

The lesson keeps one pattern: name two things, the space where they meet, and what ties them together. It first finishes the pairing about learning. The teacher came first; the student comes second. Knowledge is what exists between them, and instruction is the act that joins them. Then it turns to family. The mother is named first and the father second. The child is where the two meet, and the act of conceiving is what binds them.

Picture a zipper. One row of teeth on the left, one on the right. The closed seam is where they finally lock together, and the slider is what draws them into it. Mother and father are the two rows, the child is the seam, and conceiving is the slider. Teacher, student, knowledge and instruction fit the same way.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Fire, Sun, and Lightning · Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.2
• Next: Jaws, Tongue, and Speech · Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3.4
• All of Upanishads · Ask Krishna about it

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