Upanishads · Mahā 5.17
॥
Devanāgarī
चिरं संदर्शनाभावादप्रफुल्लं बृहद्वचः चिरकालानुवृत्तिस्तु स्वप्नो जाग्रदिवोदितः
Transliteration (IAST)
ciraṃ saṃdarśanābhāvādapraphullaṃ bṛhadvacaḥ cirakālānuvṛttistu svapno jāgradivoditaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चिरम् सन्दर्शन-अभावात्ciram sandarśana-abhāvātfrom the long absence of seeing; since it long fails to appear to sight
अप्रफुल्लम् बृहत्-वचःapraphullam bṛhat-vacaḥan unblossomed yet loud word; an unopened but noisy utterance
चिर-काल-अनुवृत्तिः तुcira-kāla-anuvṛttiḥ tuwhile a long-continued course; whereas a protracted ongoing current
स्वप्नः जाग्रत् इव उदितःsvapnaḥ jāgrat iva uditaḥis a dream arisen like waking; is a dream that has risen as if reality
Translation
“From long invisibility — an unblossomed yet loud word; while a dream long continued rises as if it were waking.”
Version
a11386e4a2cf · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The sixth step: svapna-jāgrat, “waking within a dream”, and it is defined by one mark — duration.
A dream that lasts long ceases to feel like a dream.
This observation holds for night dreams too: a dream that runs long and coherently is felt from inside as life.
The verse's first half is obscure, and I render it cautiously. Apraphullaṃ bṛhad-vacaḥ — “an unblossomed loud word”: apparently, a notion long unconfirmed by sight still remains loud within, without having unfolded into anything actual.
The passage is corrupt, and I will not insist.
The main thought is clear without it: cira-kāla-anuvṛtti, “long-continued course”, turns dream into waking. Not the nature of the experience decides the matter, but its duration.