Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,2.9
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वग् वै ग्रहः सः स्पर्शेनातिग्रहेण गृहीतः त्वचा हि स्पर्शान् वेदयते इति अष्टौ ग्रहाः अष्टौ अतिग्रहाः
Transliteration (IAST)
tvag vai grahaḥ saḥ sparśenātigraheṇa gṛhītaḥ tvacā hi sparśān vedayate iti aṣṭau grahāḥ aṣṭau atigrahāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्वग्tvagthe skin (tvac); the skin; the skin
वैvaitruly; indeed
ग्रहःgrahaḥthe seizer; the organ of seizing
सःsaḥhe; that one
स्पर्शेनातिग्रहेणsparśenātigraheṇaby touch as over-grasper (sparśena atigraheṇa); by the touch-seizer; by touch
गृहीतःgṛhītaḥis grasped; is caught
त्वचाtvacāwith the skin; with touch
हिhiindeed; truly
स्पर्शान्sparśānthe touches (sparśa, acc. pl.); the contacts; touches
वेदयतेvedayatethey feel (from √vid, causative); they perceive; they feel
इतिitithus; how
अष्टौaṣṭaueight; the set of eight
ग्रहाःgrahāḥthe seizers; the organs of seizing
अष्टौaṣṭaueight; the set of eight
अतिग्रहाःatigrahāḥthe over-seizers; what seizes the organs
Translation
The skin is a grasper; it is grasped by touch as the over-grasper: for by the skin one feels touches. These are the eight graspers and the eight over-graspers.
Version
37af2d96841a · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:59:58 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The eighth pair: skin and touch — the most extensive of the senses (the skin is the whole man from outside) and the most imperious of the captivities: the craving for touch, for warmth, for caress rules living creatures from infancy to old age.
The census is complete: eight instruments, eight captivities; the whole apparatus of experience turns out to be a net in which every mesh holds the one who holds it. This is not pessimism but an exact map: liberation is impossible until the measure of unfreedom has been seen. And note the main thing: the man himself is not on the list — the one who wears all eight grips. His relations with death are what Ārtabhāga will ask about next — and the answer became a watershed of all Indian thought.