---
type: Reference
bundle: upanishadic-core
id: chandogya-upanishad
title: "Chāndogya Upaniṣad"
description: "Sama Veda principal Upanishad; source of tat tvam asi in the Uddalaka-Shvetaketu dialogue."
tradition: Sāmaveda
language: Sanskrit
approximate_date: "c. 700–500 BCE"
key_concepts_in_bundle: [tat-tvam-asi, saguna-brahman, nirguna-brahman, sat-chit-ananda]
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Chāndogya Upaniṣad — छान्दोग्य उपनिषद्

One of the oldest and longest Upaniṣads. Associated with the Sāmaveda. Contains the most famous of the Mahāvākyas: Tat Tvam Asi (That Art Thou), repeated nine times in chapter 6. Also contains the teaching sarvam khalvidam brahma ("all this is indeed Brahman") and the Prāṇava meditation.

## Key Passages for Bundle Concepts

| Passage | Concept | Content |
|---------|---------|---------|
| CU 3.14.1 | Saguṇa / Nirguṇa | "sarvam khalvidam brahma" — all this is Brahman |
| CU 6.2.1 | Sat-Cit-Ānanda / Nirguṇa | "sad eva somya idam agra āsīt ekam evādvitīyam" — Being alone was this |
| CU 6.8.7 | Tat Tvam Asi | First occurrence: "tat tvam asi śvetaketo" |
| CU 6.9–15 | Tat Tvam Asi | Subsequent occurrences (total 9) with different illustrations |

## The Uddālaka-Śvetaketu Dialogue

Chapter 6 is a sustained dialogue between Uddālaka Āruṇi and his son Śvetaketu. The teaching uses multiple metaphors: salt dissolved in water (the Ātman permeating all), a tree whose seed contains a subtle essence that cannot be seen. After each illustration, Uddālaka says: "That subtle essence — from that all this exists. That is the True (Sat). That is the Ātman. That art thou, Śvetaketu."

The repetition of Tat Tvam Asi nine times is not redundancy but pedagogical: each metaphor approaches the same truth from a different angle, and the Mahāvākya follows each angle. The instruction is to contemplate each instance until the identity is recognized, not merely affirmed.

## Recommended Editions

- Gambhīrānanda translation (Advaita Ashrama)
- Olivelle translation (Oxford — scholarly)
- Swami Swahananda (Ramakrishna Math)
