Upanishads · Mahā 3.9
॥
Devanāgarī
आयुः पल्लवकोणाग्रलम्बाम्बुकणभङ्गुरम् उन्मत्त इव संत्यज्य याम्यकाण्डे शरीरकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
āyuḥ pallavakoṇāgralambāmbukaṇabhaṅguram unmatta iva saṃtyajya yāmyakāṇḍe śarīrakam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आयुः पल्लव-कोण-अग्रāyuḥ pallava-koṇa-agralife — at the tip of a leaf's edge; the life-span — on the point of a shoot
लम्ब-अम्बु-कण-भङ्गुरम्lamba-ambu-kaṇa-bhaṅguramfragile as a hanging drop of water; brittle as a suspended droplet
उन्मत्तः इव संत्यज्यunmattaḥ iva saṃtyajyalike a madman, having abandoned; as one deranged, having cast off
यामि अकाण्डे शरीरकम्yāmi akāṇḍe śarīrakamI depart untimely from this poor body; I quit this little body before its season
Translation
“Life is fragile as a drop hanging at the tip of a leaf; and, like a madman, I quit this poor body before its season.”
Version
71a99e58b4bb · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of the drop at the leaf's tip is among the most beautiful in these books and among the most exact.
The drop hangs. It is not falling this instant — but neither is it held by anything except surface tension. A breath is enough.
So with life: not “short”, but precisely hanging.
The verse's second half is obscure, and interpreters differ. Literally: “like a madman, abandoning, I depart untimely from this little body”. Most likely Nidāgha speaks of his decision: he leaves worldly life as a youth, akāṇḍe — “out of season”, without waiting for the appointed terms, and from outside this looks like derangement.
The diminutive śarīraka, “little body”, is said with the carelessness with which one speaks of a thing one does not prize.