Upanishads · Mahā 5.92
॥
Devanāgarī
पाणिपादादिमात्रोऽयमहमित्येष निश्चयः अहंकारस्तृतीयोऽसौ लैकिकस्तुच्छ एव सः
Transliteration (IAST)
pāṇipādādimātro'yamahamityeṣa niścayaḥ ahaṃkārastṛtīyo'sau laikikastuccha eva saḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पाणि-पाद-आदि-मात्रः अयम्pāṇi-pāda-ādi-mātraḥ ayamthis one is merely hands, feet and the rest; he is nothing but palms, feet and the like
अहम् इति एषः निश्चयःaham iti eṣaḥ niścayaḥ“I” — such is this conviction; “I” — of this sort is the said certainty
अहङ्कारः तृतीयः असौahaṅkāraḥ tṛtīyaḥ asauthat is the third selfhood; it is the third self-sense
लौकिकः तुच्छः एव सःlaukikaḥ tucchaḥ eva saḥworldly and utterly paltry is it; commonplace and altogether trifling is it
Translation
“‘This I am — he who consists of hands, feet and the rest’ — such conviction is the third selfhood, worldly and utterly paltry.”
Version
87649cc647d2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third selfhood — the one we live by.
The definition is exact: pāṇi-pāda-ādi-mātraḥ — “consisting only of hands, feet and the rest”.
Note the word mātra — “only”. Not “having hands and feet”, but “consisting of them and of nothing more”.
It is called laukika — “worldly, commonplace”, and tuccha — “empty, paltry, trashy”.
The two words render its position exactly. It is commonplace: on it rests all our speech and all our daily life (cf. 4.124). And it is paltry: it is founded on nothing.
Here is the solution of the whole examination. Not selfhood as such is evil, but precisely this one — the bodily.
The following verses will say what to do with it.