Upanishads · Mahā 3.16
॥
Devanāgarī
अहंकारवशादापदहंकाराद्दुराधयः अहंकारवशादीहा नाहंकारात्परो रिपुः
Transliteration (IAST)
ahaṃkāravaśādāpadahaṃkārāddurādhayaḥ ahaṃkāravaśādīhā nāhaṃkārātparo ripuḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अहङ्कार-वशात् आपत्ahaṅkāra-vaśāt āpatfrom the sway of selfhood — calamity; by the power of self-conceit misfortune comes
अहङ्कारात् दुराधयःahaṅkārāt durādhayaḥfrom selfhood — grievous torments; from self-conceit — evil afflictions
अहङ्कार-वशात् ईहाahaṅkāra-vaśāt īhāfrom the sway of selfhood — bustling; by the power of self-conceit — undertakings
न अहङ्कारात् परः रिपुःna ahaṅkārāt paraḥ ripuḥno enemy is greater than selfhood; there is no foe above self-conceit
Translation
“From the sway of selfhood comes calamity, from selfhood grievous torments, from the sway of selfhood the bustle of undertakings; there is no enemy greater than selfhood.”
Version
20dee17b0502 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Nidāgha reaches the root and names it outright: ahaṅkāra.
The word literally means “the making of ‘I’” — not pride, but the mind's ceaseless work of erecting oneself into a separate person to whom everything either belongs or is a threat.
Thrice is repeated ahaṅkāra-vaśāt — “by the sway of selfhood”. The repetition here is no ornament: it depicts how everything traces back to a single source.
And the conclusion without reservations: there is no enemy higher.
It is worth setting beside 2.45, where the ahaṅkāra-mayī vāsanā was named the chief of the inclinations to be left “playfully”. There the one already freed spoke of it; here, one who fights it. Hence the different tone: for the one it is play, for the other war.