Upanishads · Mahā 3.28
॥
Devanāgarī
कलेवरमहंकारगृहस्थस्य महागृहम् लुठत्वभ्येतु वा स्थैर्यं किमनेन गुरो मम
Transliteration (IAST)
kalevaramahaṃkāragṛhasthasya mahāgṛham luṭhatvabhyetu vā sthairyaṃ kimanena guro mama
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कलेवरम् अहङ्कारkalevaram ahaṅkārathe body — to selfhood; the bodily mansion — to self-conceit
गृहस्थस्य महा-गृहम्gṛhasthasya mahā-gṛhama great house for the householder; to the master of the house, a spacious dwelling
लुठतु अभ्येतु वा स्थैर्यम्luṭhatu abhyetu vā sthairyamlet it collapse or gain firmness; let it tumble or let it stand
किम् अनेन गुरो ममkim anena guro mamawhat is it to me, O preceptor; what concern of mine is it, O teacher
Translation
“The body is a spacious house for the householder named selfhood. Whether it collapses or stands firm — what is that to me, O preceptor?”
Version
a780f725ea39 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image is built consistently, and there is precision in it.
The body is not “I” but a house. In this house lives ahaṅkāra, selfhood, and lives as a gṛhastha — a householder, that is, with an owner's rights, with furnishings, with cares of repair and increase.
Hence the conclusion. Since the house is not mine but the lodger's, it is indifferent to me whether it stands or falls.
Here one must be attentive. The verse does not preach neglect of the body: it preaches indifference to the fate of what belongs not to you.
And one thing more. If the self-appointed master is evicted from the house, the house remains. Whose is it then — Nidāgha does not ask; but the question is posed by the image itself.