Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4,3.8
॥
Devanāgarī
सः वा अयं पुरुषो जायमानः शरीरम् अभिसम्पद्यमानः पाप्मभिः संसृज्यते सः उत्क्रामन् म्रियमाणः पाप्मनो विजहाति
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ vā ayaṃ puruṣo jāyamānaḥ śarīram abhisampadyamānaḥ pāpmabhiḥ saṃsṛjyate saḥ utkrāman mriyamāṇaḥ pāpmano vijahāti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
वाvātruly; surely
अयंayaṃthis; this man
पुरुषोpuruṣothe puruṣa; man
जायमानःjāyamānaḥbeing born (from √jan, participle); being born; on being born
शरीरम्śarīrambody; the bodily frame
अभिसम्पद्यमानःabhisampadyamānaḥentering (abhi-sam + √pad, participle); entering into; entering
पाप्मभिःpāpmabhiḥwith evils (pāpman, instr. pl.); with defilements; with evils
संसृज्यतेsaṃsṛjyatehe is joined (sam + √sṛj, pass.); he is joined; he is mingled
सःsaḥhe; that one
उत्क्रामन्utkrāmangoing out (ud + √kram, participle); departing; going out
म्रियमाणःmriyamāṇaḥdying; becoming mortal
पाप्मनोpāpmanoevil; sin
विजहातिvijahātihe leaves behind (vi + √hā); leaves; it forsakes
Translation
This person, being born and entering a body, is mingled with evils; going out, dying, he leaves the evils behind.
Version
139319a5cddb · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:11:14 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A see-saw couplet about embodiment: entering the body he is "mingled with evils" (pāpmabhiḥ saṁsṛjyate: troubles, illnesses, passions — the standard kit of bodiliness); going out, he "leaves the evils behind". In themselves neither is birth a reward nor death a punishment: it is entry into a costume with all its seams — and the exit from it.
The verse is deliberately free of fear: death here is the shedding of evils, not an evil. For one who has identified with the costume, the exit is a tragedy; for the Shining One "who remains the same", it is a change of clothes (vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni — "as worn-out garments", the Gītā will say, 2.22). The conversation is training the listener to look at both doors — birth and death — from the point of the Light and not from the point of the costume.