Upanishads · Mahā 4.32
॥
Devanāgarī
तुषारकरबिंबाच्छं मनो यस्य निराकुलम् मरणोत्सवयुद्धेषु स शान्त इति कथ्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
tuṣārakarabiṃbācchaṃ mano yasya nirākulam maraṇotsavayuddheṣu sa śānta iti kathyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तुषार-कर-बिम्ब-अच्छम्tuṣāra-kara-bimba-acchamclear as the disc of the moon; transparent as the orb of the cool-rayed one
मनः यस्य निराकुलम्manaḥ yasya nirākulamwhose mind is undisturbed; whose consciousness is unconfounded
मरण-उत्सव-युद्धेषुmaraṇa-utsava-yuddheṣuat death, festival and battle; amid dying, celebration and combat
सः शान्तः इति कथ्यतेsaḥ śāntaḥ iti kathyatehe is called the stilled one; he is named the pacified
Translation
“Whose mind is undisturbed and clear as the disc of the moon — at a death, at a festival and in battle — he is called the stilled one.”
Version
c42d2d80f9d4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The three circumstances are chosen with intelligence: death, festival, battle.
These are the three occasions on which a man is most surely swept away. Grief, merriment, fury.
Note that the middle one — utsava, “festival” — is set between the two grievous ones on purpose. We are used to thinking that trials come from misfortune; the book puts merriment on a par with it.
And rightly: at a festival a man loses himself more willingly and less noticeably than in a fight.
The image of the moon — tuṣāra-kara, “cool-rayed” — is the same as in 4.16 of the righteous. The moon is clear and cold; there is no heat in it to distort.
The word nirākula means “unconfounded, without turmoil”. Not “motionless”: the mind works, but there is no crush in it.