Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,2.8
॥
Devanāgarī
एवम् यथा अश्मानम् आखणम् ऋत्वा विध्वंसते एवम् ह एव सः विध्वंसते यः एवंविदि पापम् कामयते यः च एनम् अभिदासति सः एषः अश्माखणः
Transliteration (IAST)
evam yathā aśmānam ākhaṇam ṛtvā vidhvaṃsate evam ha eva saḥ vidhvaṃsate yaḥ evaṃvidi pāpam kāmayate yaḥ ca enam abhidāsati saḥ eṣaḥ aśmākhaṇaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एवम्evamthus; in this way
यथाyathāhow; like
अश्मानम्aśmānama stone; a rock
आखणम्ākhaṇamthe hard boulder; a stone
ऋत्वाṛtvāhaving struck; having run against
विध्वंसतेvidhvaṃsateit is destroyed; it is shattered
एवम्evamthus; in this way
हhaindeed; surely
एवevaindeed; surely
सःsaḥhe; that one
विध्वंसतेvidhvaṃsateit is destroyed; it is shattered
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवंविदिevaṃvidito one who knows this (evaṁ-vid); to such a knower; to him who knows thus
पापम्pāpamthe evil; sin
कामयतेkāmayatedesires; longs for
यःyaḥwho; the one who
चcaand; as well as
एनम्enamit; of this
अभिदासतिabhidāsatihe seeks to harm (abhi-√dās — 'to plot evil'); he attacks; he oppresses
सःsaḥhe; that one
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
अश्माखणःaśmākhaṇaḥan unbreakable stone (aśma-ākhaṇa); a solid rock; granite
Translation
As a [clod] is shattered on striking an unbreakable stone, so is he shattered who wishes evil to one who knows this — and who does him harm: for such a man is an unbreakable stone.
Version
c2940017a6ef · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
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The parable is transferred to man: sa eṣo 'śmākhaṇaḥ — "he is that unbreakable stone": one who knows and venerates the chief prāṇa becomes a rock himself: ya evaṁvidi pāpaṁ kāmayate — "whoever wishes evil to such a knower" — yaś cainam abhidāsati — "and whoever harms him" — is shattered as a clod upon stone.
The promise is not of a magical protection but of a law of contact: he who is established in the invulnerable is invulnerable by that same thing; evil aimed at him finds no chink of duality but a whole life — and crumbles against it, returning to the sender. Here is the root of the whole tradition of ahiṁsā-as-power: the knower's freedom from malice is no weakness but granite; men are broken upon the saints without wounding them (the same logic in the Muṇḍaka: about Brahman the haters perish).