Upanishads · Mahā 4.64
॥
Devanāgarī
पद्माक्षे स्थापितो मेरुर्निगीर्णो भृङ्गसूनुना निदाघ विद्धि तादृक्त्वं जगतेतद्भ्रमात्मकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
padmākṣe sthāpito merurnigīrṇo bhṛṅgasūnunā nidāgha viddhi tādṛktvaṃ jagatetadbhramātmakam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पद्म-अक्षे स्थापितः मेरुःpadma-akṣe sthāpitaḥ meruḥMeru is set upon a lotus seed; Meru is established on the seed of a lotus
निगीर्णः भृङ्ग-सूनुनाnigīrṇaḥ bhṛṅga-sūnunāswallowed by the child of a bee; gulped down by a bee's offspring
निदाघ विद्धि तादृक् त्वम्nidāgha viddhi tādṛk tvamNidāgha, know: such art thou; Nidāgha, understand: just so art thou
जगत् एतत् भ्रम-आत्मकम्jagat etat bhrama-ātmakamthis world is of the nature of delusion; this world is in its very essence a phantasm
Translation
“Mount Meru is set upon a lotus seed and swallowed by the child of a bee. Know, Nidāgha: such art thou — this world is delusion in its very nature.”
Version
2112352c6df6 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is the solution of the previous verse.
Two more absurdities — the world-mountain on a seed, and a bee's child swallowing it — and then: nidāgha viddhi tādṛk tvam. “Know, Nidāgha: such art thou.”
The blow lands exactly. The pupil was listening to amusing incongruities from the outside — and suddenly found himself inside the list.
Why is he such? Because he too places the enormous in the negligible: infinite consciousness in a body five cubits tall, and the whole universe in his own head.
The word bhrama means “whirling, giddiness, deception”. The world is called not a lie but a phantasm — that which spins and befools.
Note the device as a whole. The teacher did not argue: he made one laugh, and then turned the laughter on the listener. Thus is explained what argument cannot take.