Upanishads · Kaṭha 3.10
॥
Devanāgarī
इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्य् अर्था अर्थेभ्यश् च परं मनः ।
मनसस् तु परा बुद्धिर् बुद्धेर् आत्मा महान् परः
Transliteration (IAST)
indriyebhyaḥ parā hy arthā arthebhyaś ca paraṃ manaḥ /
manasas tu parā buddhir buddher ātmā mahān paraḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इन्द्रियेभ्यःindriyebhyaḥhigher than the senses; beyond the senses
पराःparāḥhigher; they transcend
हिhiindeed; for
अर्थाःarthāḥthe objects (artha — 'the object'); the objects of sense; the things
अर्थेभ्यःarthebhyaḥhigher than the objects; beyond the objects
चcaand; as well as
परम्paramhigher; surpassing
मनःmanaḥthe mind; the inner organ
मनसःmanasaḥhigher than the mind; beyond the mind
तुtusurely; and yet
पराparāhigher; surpassing them
बुद्धिःbuddhiḥthe intellect (buddhi — the discriminating will); intelligence; judgement
बुद्धेःbuddheḥhigher than the intellect; beyond the intellect
आत्माātmāthe Ātman; the self
महान्mahānthe great (mahat); the great [principle]; the mighty
परःparaḥhigher; surpasses
Translation
Higher than the senses are [their] objects, higher than the objects is the mind, higher than the mind is the intellect, and higher than the intellect is the great Ātman.
Version
97eb36bef12f · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
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After the chariot, a ladder: the same participants, arranged along a vertical of authority. indriyebhyaḥ parā hy arthāḥ — "higher than the senses are the objects": a subtle thought — the object governs the organ, the eye is powerless before the pull of the visible; arthebhyaś ca paraṁ manaḥ — "higher than the objects is the mind": the mind decides to which object the senses shall be given; manasas tu parā buddhiḥ — "higher than the mind is the intellect": the discriminating will judges the mind's own desires; buddher ātmā mahān paraḥ — "higher than the intellect is the great Ātman".
mahān ātmā — "the great Ātman" — in the cosmology of Sāṅkhya this is the mahat, the first great radiance of the manifest, the universal intelligence; in the inward reading it is the soul herself, standing above all her instruments. Both senses work: the ladder is one and the same in man and in the universe — the microcosm repeats the structure of the whole.
The practical sense of the ladder is a strategy of the inner war: each rung is subdued from the rung above, not from its own. The senses are not to be conquered on the field of the senses — they are taken by the mind; the mind is not quieted by the mind — it is held by the intellect; and the intellect is given stability by being rooted in what is higher than intellect. The Gītā (3.42–43) cites this very ladder as a council of war: "knowing Him who is higher than the intellect, establish yourself by yourself — and slay the enemy in the form of lust".