Upanishads · Mahā 3.37
॥
Devanāgarī
क्वचिद्वा विद्यते यैषा संसारे सुखभावना आयुः स्तम्बमिवासाद्य कालस्तामपि कृन्तति
Transliteration (IAST)
kvacidvā vidyate yaiṣā saṃsāre sukhabhāvanā āyuḥ stambamivāsādya kālastāmapi kṛntati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्वचित् वा विद्यते या एषाkvacit vā vidyate yā eṣāif somewhere indeed there is this; should there be found anywhere such
संसारे सुख-भावनाsaṃsāre sukha-bhāvanāthought of happiness in the round; a notion of delight in the whirl
आयुः स्तम्बम् इव आसाद्यāyuḥ stambam iva āsādyaapproaching life as a stalk; having stolen up to the life-span as to a straw
कालः ताम् अपि कृन्ततिkālaḥ tām api kṛntatitime cuts even it down; time mows even that away
Translation
“If somewhere in the round there is found such a thought of happiness, time, approaching life as a reaper a stalk, cuts even it down.”
Version
ef9f4963509b · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A concession made grudgingly, and at once taken back.
Suppose happiness in the round does occur somewhere. Nidāgha does not argue: kvacid vā, “somewhere, perhaps”.
But it too is cut down — because its foundation is cut down.
The image is agricultural: time approaches life as a reaper a stalk. The word stamba means “a tuft of grass, a straw at the root”, and kṛntati — “cuts”, the same verb by which in 3.22 the mouse gnawed through the string.
The sense of the argument is this: there is no need to prove there are no joys in the world. It is enough that the joys stand upon the life-span, and the life-span is being cut.
This is more honest than the usual sermon on vanity. Nidāgha does not deny pleasures — he points to their prop.