Upanishads · Mahā 4.20
॥
Devanāgarī
कोऽहं कथमिदं चेति संसारमलमाततम् प्रविचार्यं प्रयत्नेन प्राज्ञेन सहसाधुना
Transliteration (IAST)
ko'haṃ kathamidaṃ ceti saṃsāramalamātatam pravicāryaṃ prayatnena prājñena sahasādhunā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कः अहम्kaḥ ahamwho am I; who then am I
कथम् इदम् च इतिkatham idam ca itiand how is this — thus; and what is this — behold
संसार-मलम् आततम्saṃsāra-malam ātatamthe outspread filth of the round; the unrolled uncleanness of the whirl
प्रविचार्यम् प्रयत्नेनpravicāryam prayatnenais to be examined with diligence; should be inquired into with care
प्राज्ञेन सहसा अधुनाprājñena sahasā adhunāby the wise man, at once, now; by the discerning — immediately, this day
Translation
“‘Who am I? How has this outspread filth of the round arisen?’ — this the wise man must diligently examine at once, this very now.”
Version
cd41ecdc31c3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second gatekeeper — vicāra, inquiry — is named by name and furnished with two questions.
The first: ko'ham — “who am I?”.
The second: katham idam — “how is this?”, that is, whence came all that is around.
The order matters. First of oneself, then of the world. He who sets out to explain the world without having settled who he himself is, explains from no one knows whose vantage.
The word saṃsāra-mala — “the filth of the round”, ātata — “outspread, stretched wide”. The image of a cloth thrown over.
And two adverbs at the end, both of time: sahasā adhunā — “at once, now”. Not “when circumstances allow”. This answers what Nidāgha said of life's unreliability (3.11): since the term cannot be counted on, there is nothing to postpone onto.