Upanishads · Mahā 3.52
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मा विष्णुश्च रुद्रश्च सर्वा वा भूतजातयः नाशमेवानुधावन्ति सलिलानीव वाडवम्
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmā viṣṇuśca rudraśca sarvā vā bhūtajātayaḥ nāśamevānudhāvanti salilānīva vāḍavam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्मा विष्णुः च रुद्रः चbrahmā viṣṇuḥ ca rudraḥ caBrahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra; Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra
सर्वाः वा भूत-जातयःsarvāḥ vā bhūta-jātayaḥand all the tribes of beings; and every race of creatures
नाशम् एव अनुधावन्तिnāśam eva anudhāvantiall run straight to destruction; hasten directly toward perdition
सलिलानि इव वाडवम्salilāni iva vāḍavamlike the waters — to the submarine fire; just as the waters to the flame of Vāḍava
Translation
“Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra and all the tribes of beings run straight to destruction — like the waters to the submarine fire.”
Version
49e0bb080517 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image for whose sake the verse is worth reading: vāḍava — the submarine flame.
By tradition, at the ocean's bottom burns a fire in the shape of a mare's head, and it devours the water that flows into it without cease. The ocean does not shrink and the fire does not go out: the water runs into the flame forever.
In this image there is not so much horror as an arrangement. Beings do not perish by mishap: they flow into perdition as water flows downhill. It is their natural motion.
As to the names — see what was said on the previous verse: the speech here is of the universe's office-holders, replaced from kalpa to kalpa, not of Him who institutes those offices.
Note also the verb anudhāvanti — “they run after, they hasten”. Not “they are dragged”, but they run themselves.