ते होचुरुपकोसलैषा सोम्य तेऽस्मद्विद्यात्मविद्या चाचार्यस्तु ते गतिं वक्तेत्याजगाम हास्याचार्यस्तमाचार्योऽभ्युवादोपकोसल३ इति ॥ ४.१४.१ ॥
te hocurupakosalaiṣā somya te’smadvidyātmavidyā cācāryastu te gatiṃ vaktetyājagāma hāsyācāryastamācāryo’bhyuvādopakosala3 iti || 4.14.1 ||
1. The fires said: ‘O Somya Upakosala, we have just told you the knowledge of fire. That is also Self-knowledge. Your teacher will tell you about the way to the next world.’ In due course, his teacher returned, and he called him, saying, ‘Upakosala’.
Word-for-word explanation:
Te ha ucuḥ, they [the fires] said; upakosala somya, O Somya Upakosala; eṣā te asmat vidyā, this knowledge about us [we have given] to you; ca ātma-vidyā, that is also Self-knowledge; ācāryaḥ tu te gatim vakta iti, but the teacher will tell you about the way [to the next world]; asya ācāryaḥ, his teacher; ājagāma ha, returned; ācāryaḥ abhyuvāda tam upakosala iti, the teacher called him, ‘O Upakosala.’
Commentary:
What the fire meant was that Upakosala’s teacher would give him the final lesson. He would tell Upakosala what he should do to get the full benefit of what he had learned from the fires.