Upanishads · Mahā 3.49
॥
Devanāgarī
दिशोऽपि न हि दृश्यन्ते देशोऽप्यन्योपदेशकृत् शैला अपि विशीर्यन्ते शीर्यन्ते तारका अपि
Transliteration (IAST)
diśo'pi na hi dṛśyante deśo'pyanyopadeśakṛt śailā api viśīryante śīryante tārakā api
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दिशः अपि न हि दृश्यन्तेdiśaḥ api na hi dṛśyanteeven the quarters are not seen; even the directions are indiscernible
देशः अपि अन्य-उपदेश-कृत्deśaḥ api anya-upadeśa-kṛtand a place points to another; and a locality refers to a different one
शैलाः अपि विशीर्यन्तेśailāḥ api viśīryanteeven the mountains crumble; even the crags fall apart
शीर्यन्ते तारकाः अपिśīryante tārakāḥ apieven the stars crumble away; the luminaries too collapse
Translation
“Even the quarters of the sky are not seen; and every place points to another; the mountains crumble, and the stars crumble away.”
Version
0d47d3c0224a · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The last series begins: on the perishing of what we count unshakable.
The first two lines are difficult, and I render them cautiously. The point, it seems, is that even the quarters of the sky are not constant: they are determined by the luminaries and by the position of the one standing, not in themselves. Deśo'py anya-upadeśa-kṛt — “a place points to another place”: every “here” has meaning only through some “there”.
That is, there is not even a fixed frame into which everything can be set.
What follows is simpler and more dreadful: the mountains crumble, the stars collapse.
Note that for the ancient man the stars were the very pattern of permanence — by them time was reckoned and the way was steered. To say “the stars too crumble” meant the same as for us to say “the laws of nature too are not eternal”.