Upanishads · Mahā 3.1
॥
Devanāgarī
निदाघो नाम मुनिराट् प्राप्तविद्यश्च बालकः विहृतस्तीर्थयात्रार्थं पित्रानुज्ञातवान्स्वयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
nidāgho nāma munirāṭ prāptavidyaśca bālakaḥ vihṛtastīrthayātrārthaṃ pitrānujñātavānsvayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
निदाघः नाम मुनिराट्nidāghaḥ nāma munirāṭNidāgha by name, a king of sages; named Nidāgha, a sovereign of the silent
प्राप्त-विद्यः च बालकःprāpta-vidyaḥ ca bālakaḥand, his learning gained, a boy; and schooled while yet a lad
विहृतः तीर्थ-यात्रा-अर्थम्vihṛtaḥ tīrtha-yātrā-arthamwent abroad for pilgrimage to holy places; went forth for the sake of visiting the tīrthas
पित्रा अनुज्ञातवान् स्वयम्pitrā anujñātavān svayamhimself given leave by his father; having his parent's own permission
Translation
Nidāgha, a king of sages, having finished his schooling while yet a boy, with his father's leave set out himself on a pilgrimage to the holy places.
Version
b1f2337898ac · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A new tale begins, and it is built as the opposite of the second.
There was Śuka, who knew from birth and found no peace. Here is Nidāgha — a youth who studied, went round the holy places and came home full of impressions.
His teacher is Ṛbhu, of whom the book will speak in the next chapter. For now let us mark only the arrangement of station and age: before us is a pupil who has come to speak, not to listen.
The whole third adhyāya is his speech. Ṛbhu's answer will begin only in the fourth.
This is a rare construction for an upaniṣad: fifty-seven verses in a row are spoken by the questioner. And he speaks of what he has seen in the world.