Upanishads · Mahā 4.28
॥
Devanāgarī
यानि दुःखानि या तृष्णा दुःसहा ये दुराधयः शान्तचेतःसु तत्सर्वं तमोऽर्केष्विव नश्यति
Transliteration (IAST)
yāni duḥkhāni yā tṛṣṇā duḥsahā ye durādhayaḥ śāntacetaḥsu tatsarvaṃ tamo'rkeṣviva naśyati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यानि दुःखानि या तृष्णाyāni duḥkhāni yā tṛṣṇāwhatever sufferings, whatever craving; whatever torments, whatever thirst
दुःसहाः ये दुराधयःduḥsahāḥ ye durādhayaḥwhatever unbearable afflictions; whatever insufferable anguishes
शान्त-चेतःसु तत् सर्वम्śānta-cetaḥsu tat sarvamin stilled minds all of that; in pacified consciousnesses all that
तमः अर्केषु इव नश्यतिtamaḥ arkeṣu iva naśyatiperishes like darkness before suns; vanishes, as gloom before the luminaries
Translation
“All sufferings, all craving and the unbearable afflictions perish in stilled minds — like darkness before the sun.”
Version
aef344ed3919 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The description of the first gatekeeper — śama, calm — begins, and will take several verses.
The image chosen is the simplest: darkness before the sun.
There is a precision in it easily missed. Darkness is not carried out in buckets; it is not fought. It is not a thing — it is the absence of light. Bring in the light — and it is gone, instantly and without effort.
So with craving and the afflictions: they are not separate enemies to be slain one by one. They rest on the mind's excitement. The mind grows still — and they have nothing to stand on.
Note the plural: arkeṣu, “before suns”. An intensifying turn — as if not one sun had risen, but many.
And further: it says śānta-cetaḥsu, “in stilled minds”, not “with stilled people”. The thing happens not to the man but to his mind.