Upanishads · Mahā 4.133
॥
Devanāgarī
इदं तद्वज्रतां यातं तृणमात्रं जगत्त्रयम् इत्युपनिषत्
Transliteration (IAST)
idaṃ tadvajratāṃ yātaṃ tṛṇamātraṃ jagattrayam ityupaniṣat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इदम् तत् वज्रताम् यातम्idam tat vajratām yātamthis, become adamant; this, turned into diamond
तृण-मात्रम् जगत्-त्रयम्tṛṇa-mātram jagat-trayamthe triple world, which is a mere blade of grass; the triple world, which is nothing but a straw
इति उपनिषत्iti upaniṣatsuch is the upaniṣad; such is the secret teaching
Translation
“Behold the triple world — a mere blade of grass, become adamant. Such is the upaniṣad.”
Version
5805ec0ec5b9 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third wonder and the chapter's end.
The three worlds — a blade of grass. And this blade has become vajra — diamond, or more exactly the vajra: both adamant and Indra's thunder-mace, the hardest thing there is.
Here is the whole parable of our situation. What in essence is no heavier than a straw has become for us indestructible.
What made it so is nothing other than our own relation to it — those lotus fibres of the previous verse.
Note that the image is reversible, and therein is the hope. Since the straw did not become diamond of itself, the reverse course is possible too: stop holding — and it is a straw again.
Recall 4.11: knowledge is fire for the straw of the vāsanās. The straw and the blade of grass are one.
And the last two words: ity upaniṣat — “such is the upaniṣad”, that is, “such is the secret teaching”. So do these books set their full stop.