Upanishads · Mahā 5.15
॥
Devanāgarī
द्विचन्द्रशुक्तिकारूप्यमृगतृष्णादिभेदतः अभ्यासं प्राप्य जाग्रत्तत्स्वप्नो नानाविधो भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
dvicandraśuktikārūpyamṛgatṛṣṇādibhedataḥ abhyāsaṃ prāpya jāgrattatsvapno nānāvidho bhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्वि-चन्द्र-शुक्तिका-रूप्यdvi-candra-śuktikā-rūpyatwo moons, silver in mother-of-pearl; the doubled moon, silver in the shell
मृग-तृष्णा-आदि-भेदतःmṛga-tṛṣṇā-ādi-bhedataḥmirage and the rest, by their varieties; the shimmering haze and the like, by their kinds
अभ्यासम् प्राप्य जाग्रत् तत्abhyāsam prāpya jāgrat tatgaining the force of habit, that waking; having entered into habit, the said wakefulness
स्वप्नः नाना-विधः भवेत्svapnaḥ nānā-vidhaḥ bhavetbecomes a dream of many kinds; is made a dream of many forms
Translation
“The double moon, silver in mother-of-pearl, the mirage and the rest in their kinds: grown into habit, this waking becomes a dream of many forms.”
Version
cd38ca59ad81 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three examples of mistaken perception, and all three are from the school stock of Indian logic.
Two moons — what a man with a diseased eye sees.
Silver in mother-of-pearl — the shell on the sand taken for a coin.
The mirage — water in the desert.
These are three different kinds of deception: a flaw in the organ, an error in recognition, a deception of conditions.
And it is said: abhyāsaṃ prāpya — “having entered into habit”. All this, repeated, becomes a many-formed dream.
Here is the verse's chief observation. A single trick of the eye is a trifle; a deception grown habitual furnishes a whole world.
We rarely err once. We err identically all our lives, and so the error ceases to be noticeable: it becomes the look of the world.