Upanishads · Mahā 5.9
॥
Devanāgarī
इति सप्तविधो मोहः पुनरेष परस्परम् श्लिष्टो भवत्यनेकाग्र्यं श्रुणु लक्षणमस्य तु
Transliteration (IAST)
iti saptavidho mohaḥ punareṣa parasparam śliṣṭo bhavatyanekāgryaṃ śruṇu lakṣaṇamasya tu
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इति सप्त-विधः मोहःiti sapta-vidhaḥ mohaḥsuch is the sevenfold delusion; so is the blinding of seven kinds
पुनः एषः परस्परम्punaḥ eṣaḥ parasparamand it, moreover, with one another; and it besides is mutually
श्लिष्टः भवति अनेकाग्र्यम्śliṣṭaḥ bhavati anekāgryamis interwoven, in many ways; entangled, in multiplicity
श्रुणु लक्षणम् अस्य तुśruṇu lakṣaṇam asya tuhear now its marks; listen then to its tokens
Translation
“Such is the sevenfold delusion; and it is moreover interwoven with itself in many ways. Hear now its marks.”
Version
86b3e489632d · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The proviso without which the list would deceive: the steps are śliṣṭa — “interwoven”.
This means a man does not stand on one of them. He is on several at once: in one affair he wakes, in another he daydreams, in a third he sleeps fast.
The word anekāgrya is literally “many-peakedness”, the lack of a single point. In another use it also means distraction.
Note that the same was said of the seven steps of knowledge in 5.2: the intermediate steps are numberless.
Twice the book warns against taking its scheme for a timetable. It is a map of the terrain, not a staircase with numbered treads.
And the promise to examine the marks: lakṣaṇa — “token, distinguishing sign”. The examination follows.