Upanishads · Mahā 5.93
॥
Devanāgarī
जीव एव दुरात्मासौ कन्दः संसारदुस्तरोः अनेनाभिहतो जन्तुरधोऽधः परिधावति
Transliteration (IAST)
jīva eva durātmāsau kandaḥ saṃsāradustaroḥ anenābhihato janturadho'dhaḥ paridhāvati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जीवः एव दुरात्मा असौjīvaḥ eva durātmā asauit is the evil-souled jīva itself; it is precisely the ill-natured soul
कन्दः संसार-दुस्-तरोःkandaḥ saṃsāra-dus-taroḥthe tuber of the ill tree of the round; the rootstock of the baneful tree of the whirl
अनेन अभिहतः जन्तुःanena abhihataḥ jantuḥthe creature stricken by it; the being smitten by it
अधः अधः परिधावतिadhaḥ adhaḥ paridhāvatiruns ever lower and lower; dashes ever further down and down
Translation
“It is that evil-souled jīva, the tuber of the ill tree of the round; the creature stricken by it runs ever lower and lower.”
Version
3a177e5e8b8b · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A verse on the third selfhood, and its image is botanical.
Kanda — “a tuber, a rootstock”. From it grows the tree of the round.
The image is chosen exactly. The tuber lies underground; cut the tree — and it sends up a new shoot. That is why changes of circumstance do not help: while the bodily selfhood is intact, everything grows back.
Note the expression jīva eva durātmā — “that very evil-souled jīva”. The word jīva is used here not in the usual sense of “the eternal soul”, but in the sense of “the living being as it fancies itself”.
Adhaḥ adhaḥ paridhāvati — “it runs ever lower and lower”. The word paridhāvati occurred already in 3.18, where the mind darted about as a village dog.
Here the darting has received a direction: downward.