Upanishads · Mahā 5.115
॥
Devanāgarī
इमां कथमहं हन्मीत्येषा तेऽस्तु विचारणा अस्तं गतायां क्षीणायामस्यां ज्ञास्यसि तत्पदम्
Transliteration (IAST)
imāṃ kathamahaṃ hanmītyeṣā te'stu vicāraṇā astaṃ gatāyāṃ kṣīṇāyāmasyāṃ jñāsyasi tatpadam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इमाम् कथम् अहम् हन्मिimām katham aham hanmi“how shall I slay her”; “in what way am I to strike her down”
इति एषा ते अस्तु विचारणाiti eṣā te astu vicāraṇālet this be thy pondering; of this kind let thine inquiry be
अस्तम् गतायाम् क्षीणायाम्astam gatāyām kṣīṇāyāmwhen she has set and wasted away; upon her sinking and exhaustion
अस्याम् ज्ञास्यसि तत् पदम्asyām jñāsyasi tat padamthen shalt thou know that state; then wilt thou understand the said station
Translation
“‘How shall I slay her?’ — let thy pondering be such; when she has set and wasted away, then shalt thou know that state.”
Version
60c303a6f927 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is the substitution of questions for which the previous verse was made.
Not “whence did she come”, but “how shall I slay her”.
The difference between these two questions is the difference between erudition and work.
Note that the second question too is called vicāraṇā — the same word as the second stage of knowledge (5.24). That is, pondering is not abolished; it has been given a direction.
This is the whole book's general rule, and perhaps its best. Nowhere does it forbid thinking; each time it turns thought from the origin of things to what is to be done with them.
Astaṃ gatāyām — “when she has set”, as the sun sets. Kṣīṇāyām — “wasted away”.
And the promise: tadā jñāsyasi — “then shalt thou know”. Not before.