Upanishads · Mahā 5.21
॥
Devanāgarī
इमां सप्तपदां ज्ञानभूमिमाकर्णयानघ नानया ज्ञातया भूयो मोहपङ्के निमज्जति
Transliteration (IAST)
imāṃ saptapadāṃ jñānabhūmimākarṇayānagha nānayā jñātayā bhūyo mohapaṅke nimajjati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इमाम् सप्त-पदाम् ज्ञान-भूमिम्imām sapta-padām jñāna-bhūmimthis seven-stepped ground of knowledge; this land of knowing with its seven steps
आकर्णय अनघākarṇaya anaghagive ear to it, O sinless one; hearken, O blameless one
न अनया ज्ञातया भूयःna anayā jñātayā bhūyaḥonce it is known, no more; upon understanding it, never again
मोह-पङ्के निमज्जतिmoha-paṅke nimajjatidoes one sink in the mire of delusion; is one plunged into the bog of blinding
Translation
“Give ear, O sinless one, to this seven-stepped ground of knowledge: he who has known it sinks no more in the mire of delusion.”
Version
c86cfa5f7049 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The transition to the second ladder, and in it a promise.
Having known it, one “sinks no more in the mire of delusion”.
The word nimajjati is of the same root as majjana in 5.4, where delusion was defined as “the drowning of consciousness in the object”. The circle has closed: the knowledge of the ladder saves from that very drowning.
Note too what the promise is not. It does not say “he will be liberated” or “he will attain”. It says: he will not drown.
This is more modest and more true. Knowing the map does not carry one across the bog; it keeps one from perishing in it.
The address anagha — “sinless” — is the same by which Ṛbhu called his pupil in 4.102.
The approach is made; with the next verse the ladder itself begins.