LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Saubhāgyalakṣmī 2.14
॥
Devanāgarī
सलिले सैन्धावं यद्वत्साम्यं भवति योगतः । तथात्ममनसौरेक्यं समाधिरभिधीयते
Transliteration (IAST)
salile saindhāvaṃ yadvatsāmyaṃ bhavati yogataḥ | tathātmamanasaurekyaṃ samādhirabhidhīyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सलिले सैन्धावं यद्वत्salile saindhāvaṃ yadvatas salt in water
साम्यं भवति योगतःsāmyaṃ bhavati yogataḥbecomes uniform through union
तथा आत्म-मनसोः ऐक्यंtathā ātma-manasoḥ aikyaṃso the unity of the self and the mind
समाधिः अभिधीयतेsamādhiḥ abhidhīyateis called samādhi
Translation
"As salt in water becomes uniform through union, so the unity of the self and the mind is called samādhi."
Version
b442eb3a2b69 · published Aug 6, 2026, 5:40:24 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
This verse stands word for word in the Varāha (2.75), and there we examined it in detail; no need to repeat. Let us repeat only the main point, for it is relevant here too. The comparison is taken from the Chāndogya (6.13), where Uddālaka tells his son to throw salt into water and bring it back the next morning; he cannot — the salt has dissolved; and the father tells him to taste from the edge, from the middle, and from the bottom, and each time it is salty.
That is, the comparison speaks not of disappearance but of omnipresence: the salt is everywhere, and so it cannot be taken from one spot. And let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side notes in it: the salt has not ceased to be salt; the water is salty, not fresh. If the salt had disappeared, the taste would have disappeared with it; and this taste is the sole proof that the salt is there.
Let us add one thing not said when reading the Varāha, which belongs here. Salt, once dissolved, makes the water fit for use: unsalted food is inedible, and so salt is put in not to be seen, but to give itself over to taste. Read this way, the comparison turns out to speak of service, not of merging: the salt disappears from view precisely because it does its work.
And this, to my mind, is the best that can be drawn from this comparison.