Upanishads · Mahā 4.95
॥
Devanāgarī
छिन्नाभ्रमण्डलं व्योम्नि यथा शरदि धूयते वातेन कल्पकेनैव तथान्तर्धूयते मनः
Transliteration (IAST)
chinnābhramaṇḍalaṃ vyomni yathā śaradi dhūyate vātena kalpakenaiva tathāntardhūyate manaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
छिन्न-अभ्र-मण्डलम् व्योम्निchinna-abhra-maṇḍalam vyomnithe riven bank of clouds in the sky; the torn circle of clouds in the heavens
यथा शरदि धूयतेyathā śaradi dhūyateas in autumn it is scattered; in what manner in autumn it is swept away
वातेन कल्पकेन एवvātena kalpakena evaby a wind that is truly creative; by a wind as though formative
तथा अन्तः धूयते मनःtathā antaḥ dhūyate manaḥso within is the mind scattered; so inside is consciousness swept away
Translation
“As in autumn the riven bank of clouds is scattered in the sky by the wind, so within is the mind scattered.”
Version
d2393dde62d3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of autumn clouds is constant in Sanskrit poetry, and here it is taken exactly.
After the rains the sky is full of clouds, but there is no more rain in them. They are vast, they cover the sky — and the first wind scatters them, for they have nothing to hold by.
So the mind: enormous in appearance, empty in substance.
The word kalpaka means “creative, ordering”, and it is applied to the wind. The wind here is no destroyer but an orderer: it does not spoil the sky, it opens it.
Note too chinna-abhra — “the riven bank”: the clouds are already torn, the work is half done. This refers to one who has passed through the analysis of the preceding verses: his mind is no longer solid.
And the last word: antaḥ, “within”. The sky in question is that very citta-ākāśa of 4.57.