Upanishads · Subāla 1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
सोऽग्रे भूतानां मृत्युमसृजन्त्र्यक्षरं त्रिशिरस्कं त्रिपादं खण्डपरशुम्
Transliteration (IAST)
so'gre bhūtānāṃ mṛtyumasṛjantryakṣaraṃ triśiraskaṃ tripādaṃ khaṇḍaparaśum
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः अग्रे भूतानाम्saḥ agre bhūtānāmHe, before the beings; He, earlier than the creatures
मृत्युम् असृजत्mṛtyum asṛjatcreated death; produced the ending
त्र्यक्षरम् त्रिशिरस्कम्tryakṣaram triśiraskamthree-syllabled, three-headed; of three syllables and three heads
त्रिपादम् खण्डपरशुम्tripādam khaṇḍaparaśumthree-footed, with a jagged axe; three-legged, with a broken hatchet
Translation
He, before all beings, created death — three-syllabled, three-headed, three-footed, with a jagged axe.
Version
134d5bf02ce5 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:12:03 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first creation named is death — and named before the living.
This is not gloom for gloom's sake. The meaning is that mortality did not befall the world later, as a corruption; it is laid into the very structure of time. Everything that begins thereby receives an end too: one creation contains both.
Her description is enigmatic and built on the number three. Three-syllabled, three-headed, three-footed — this is interpreted variously; most often the three times are seen here (past, present, future), or the three states death takes possession of.
And the last word: khaṇḍa-paraśu, “with a broken, jagged axe”. Death's weapon is described not as a flashing sword but as a blunted, chipped axe. In this image there is a terrible exactness: death does not cut cleanly and swiftly — it chips away, wears down, breaks off piece by piece. And so it is.
The next mantra will show that the creator himself took fright at this creature of his. The Upaniṣad does not pretend that death is not fearsome.