Upanishads · Mahā 4.29
॥
Devanāgarī
मातरीव परं यान्ति विषमाणि मृदूनि च विश्वासमिह भूतानि सर्वाणि शमशालिनि
Transliteration (IAST)
mātarīva paraṃ yānti viṣamāṇi mṛdūni ca viśvāsamiha bhūtāni sarvāṇi śamaśālini
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मातरि इव परम् यान्तिmātari iva param yāntias to a mother, they go with the highest; just as to a mother, they turn with supreme
विषमाणि मृदूनि चviṣamāṇi mṛdūni caboth the fierce and the gentle; both the savage and the meek
विश्वासम् इह भूतानिviśvāsam iha bhūtānitrust — here the beings; confidence — here all creatures
सर्वाणि शम-शालिनिsarvāṇi śama-śāliniall — to him who possesses calm; every one, toward him who is filled with peace
Translation
“To him who is filled with calm all beings — fierce and gentle alike — come with the highest trust, as to a mother.”
Version
27f30dcd288c · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A mark of calm that is tested not from within but from without: beasts come to such a man.
Both breeds are listed: viṣama, “fierce”, and mṛdu, “gentle”. Neither the one nor the other fears him.
The comparison — mātari iva, “as to a mother”. In the books about hermits this is a constant token: by the ascetic's dwelling those graze side by side who in the forest eat one another.
The explanation is simple and holds for people too. The living sense not intention but state. He in whom there is no agitation gives off not one of the signals answered by fear or fury.
Note the word viśvāsa — “trust”. The very thing Śuka lacked (2.13). Here it comes to the man at peace from all.
Vaiṣṇava thought adds the familiar rule: no one is peaceful who envies someone. Evenness toward the living is calm itself; all else is its finish.