Upanishads · Mahā 2.20
॥
Devanāgarī
पित्रेत्युक्तः शुकः प्रायात्सुमेरोर्वसुधातलम् विदेहनगरीं प्राप जनकेनाभिपालिताम्
Transliteration (IAST)
pitretyuktaḥ śukaḥ prāyātsumerorvasudhātalam videhanagarīṃ prāpa janakenābhipālitām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पित्रा इति उक्तः शुकः प्रायात्pitrā iti uktaḥ śukaḥ prāyātso told by his father, Śuka set out; receiving this word from his father, Śuka went
सुमेरोः वसुधा-तलम्sumeroḥ vasudhā-talamfrom Sumeru to the surface of the earth; down from Sumeru's slopes to the ground
विदेह-नगरीम् प्रापvideha-nagarīm prāpahe reached the city of the Videhas; he came to the capital of Videha
जनकेन अभिपालिताम्janakena abhipālitāmguarded by Janaka; kept under Janaka's protection
Translation
Hearing this from his father, Śuka came down from Sumeru to the earth and reached the city of the Videha land, guarded by Janaka.
Version
717562a15deb · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A short verse about the road — but there is a direction in it, and it is the opposite of the expected.
Usually in these books the seeker ascends: he leaves the town for the forest, the forest for the mountains. Śuka goes down: from Sumeru, the axis of the world, — to the vasudhā-tala, “the surface of the earth”, and straight into a city.
The country's name is Videha, “the bodiless”. It will yet play its part: in this very chapter videha-mukti will be examined, liberation without a body (2.63–2.68). The king of the bodiless land teaches bodiless freedom while living in a body and in a palace.
And more: he walks. On foot, from the mountain to the plain. For a knowledge he already has.