Upanishads · Kena 3.9
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मिंस् त्वयि किं वीर्यम् इत्य् अपीदं सर्वम् आदादीय यद् इदं पृथिव्याम् इति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmiṃs tvayi kiṃ vīryam ity apīdaṃ sarvam ādādīya yad idaṃ pṛthivyām iti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मिन्tasminin such a one; in this
त्वयिtvayiin you; with you
किम्kimwhat; what kind of
वीर्यम्vīryampower; might
इतिitithus; he asked
अपिapieven; and
इदम्idamthis; all this
सर्वम्sarvamall; entirely
आदादीयādādīyaI could take away (optative of ā-√dā); I would carry off; I am able to seize
यत् इदम्yat idamwhat is here; all that
पृथिव्याम्pṛthivyāmon the earth; in the earthly world
इतिitithus; he said
Translation
"What power is in you?" — "I can carry off everything there is on earth."
Version
76af042d6e40 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:28:41 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
apīdaṁ sarvam ādadīya — "I could take and carry off even all this". Fire boasted of destruction; the wind boasts of the power to move and carry off everything that exists. The two chief forces of the world — heat and motion, destruction and displacement — have now spoken; the third will be power itself (Indra). The Upaniṣad runs through the whole arsenal of might in order to show its common lining — that it is borrowed.
And again the same "everything" (sarvam) — the favourite word of a power that has forgotten its source. The measure of real humility is the opposite: not "I can do everything" but "what is given me is given". The blade of grass is already prepared.