Upanishads · Mahā 3.55
॥
Devanāgarī
जन्मान्तरघ्ना विषया एकजन्महरं विषम् इति मे दोषदावाग्निदग्धे सम्प्रति चेतसि
Transliteration (IAST)
janmāntaraghnā viṣayā ekajanmaharaṃ viṣam iti me doṣadāvāgnidagdhe samprati cetasi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जन्म-अन्तर-घ्नाः विषयाःjanma-antara-ghnāḥ viṣayāḥsense-objects slay the births beyond; the sensory kills lives beyond this one
एक-जन्म-हरम् विषम्eka-janma-haram viṣampoison takes but a single birth; venom carries off one life only
इति मे दोष-दाव-अग्निiti me doṣa-dāva-agnithus, in mine, by the wildfire of vices; so, in mine, by the forest-fire of faults
दग्धे सम्प्रति चेतसिdagdhe samprati cetasiin the mind now burnt out; in the consciousness now scorched
Translation
“The sense-objects destroy even the births to come, while poison takes only one life. Thus — in my mind, now burnt out by the wildfire of vices…”
Version
ce25130eed68 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The argument is carried to its end, and it is irresistible in its simplicity.
Poison kills once. The sensory is janma-antara-ghna, “slaying the births beyond this one”, because it leaves vāsanās, and the vāsanās carry a man into a new birth and there continue their work.
Consequently, ordinary poison is the more merciful.
The verse's second half passes to Nidāgha himself, and the image chosen is strong: doṣa-dāvāgni, “the forest-fire of vices”, which has scorched his mind.
Note an ambiguity that is surely deliberate here. Did the fire scorch the mind with vices — or scorch the vices out of the mind? Both readings are possible, and both are true: a burnt field is both devastation and cleared ground.
The next verse will say what no longer sprouts on that ash.