अथ ह एनम् असुराः ऊचुः ब्रवीतु नः भवान् इति तेभ्यः ह एतद् एव अक्षरम् उवाच द इति व्यज्ञासिष्टा इति व्यज्ञासिष्म इति ह ऊचुः दयध्वम् इति नः आत्थेति ओम् इति ह उवाच व्यज्ञासिष्ट इति तद् एतद् एव एषा दैवी वाक् अनुवदति स्तनयित्नुः द द द इति दम्यत दत्त दयध्वम् इति तद् एतद् त्रयं शिक्षेत् दमम् दानम् दयाम् इति
atha ha enam asurāḥ ūcuḥ bravītu naḥ bhavān iti tebhyaḥ ha etad eva akṣaram uvāca da iti vyajñāsiṣṭā iti vyajñāsiṣma iti ha ūcuḥ dayadhvam iti naḥ āttheti om iti ha uvāca vyajñāsiṣṭa iti tad etad eva eṣā daivī vāk anuvadati stanayitnuḥ da da da iti damyata datta dayadhvam iti tad etad trayaṃ śikṣet damam dānam dayām iti
Then the asuras said to him: "Speak to us, sir!" He uttered to them the same syllable: "da". — "Have you understood?" — "We have understood: you said to us 'be compassionate' (dayadhvam)." — "Oṁ!" he said. "You have understood." This same thing is repeated by that divine voice, the thunder: "da! da! da!" — restrain, give, be compassionate. These three one should learn: restraint, giving, compassion.
1cd0ae22111b · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:19:47 AM UTC
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Third come the asuras, and their hearing took its own from the "da": dayadhvam — "be compassionate". The asuras' disease is cruelty: strength without pity; what they need most is dayā, mercy.
And the ending lifts the parable up to the sky: the same "da-da-da" is thundered by the thunder — daivī vāk, the divine voice, repeating Prajāpati's lesson to the whole world at every storm: damyata datta dayadhvam. Heaven has not fallen silent: the peals are an eternal dictation of three medicines to three breeds that live in every heart: in us there is a god who needs a bridle, a man who needs generosity, and an asura who needs pity. "These three one should learn" — a conclusion the Upaniṣad has lodged in the weather itself: every thunderstorm is an examination in whether you remember.