Upanishads · Mahā 5.27
॥
Devanāgarī
स्थितः किं मूढ एवास्मि प्रेक्षेऽहं शास्त्रसज्जनैः वैराग्यपूर्वमिच्छेति शुभेच्छेत्युच्यते बुधैः
Transliteration (IAST)
sthitaḥ kiṃ mūḍha evāsmi prekṣe'haṃ śāstrasajjanaiḥ vairāgyapūrvamiccheti śubhecchetyucyate budhaiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्थितः किम् मूढः एव अस्मिsthitaḥ kim mūḍhaḥ eva asmi“what, do I remain a very fool?”; “can it be I abide an ignoramus?”
प्रेक्षे अहम् शास्त्र-सत्-जनैःprekṣe aham śāstra-sat-janaiḥ“let me look, with scripture and the good”; “I will look, by means of writings and the worthy”
वैराग्य-पूर्वम् इच्छा इतिvairāgya-pūrvam icchā itisuch desire, preceded by dispassion; the said wanting, with detachment going before
शुभ-इच्छा इति उच्यते बुधैःśubha-icchā iti ucyate budhaiḥis called by the wise “good desire”; the sages name it “fair wishing”
Translation
“‘What, am I to remain a fool? Let me look, with the help of the scriptures and good men’ — such a desire, preceded by dispassion, the wise call good desire.”
Version
1f54e26a58ff · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first stage is explicated, and explicated through a living phrase a man says to himself.
“What, am I to remain a fool?”
Note where it all begins: with vexation at oneself. Not with illumination, not with tidings from above, not with misfortune. With a simple “how much longer”.
And after it, the resolve: “let me look, with the help of scriptures and good men”.
Again two of the four gatekeepers are named (4.2): books and the company of the worthy, and in the same order as in 4.4.
And the proviso: vairāgya-pūrvam — “preceded by dispassion”. The good desire is not the one where a man wants to learn about God in addition to everything else; it must come on the ebb of the former desires.
The word prekṣe — “let me look” — is in the first person. The stage begins with a decision to look.