Upanishads · Mahā 5.116
॥
Devanāgarī
यत एषा यथा चैषा यथा नष्टेत्यखण्डितम् तदस्या रोगशालाया यत्नं कुरु चिकित्सने
Transliteration (IAST)
yata eṣā yathā caiṣā yathā naṣṭetyakhaṇḍitam tadasyā rogaśālāyā yatnaṃ kuru cikitsane
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यतः एषा यथा च एषाyataḥ eṣā yathā ca eṣāwhence she is and what she is like; from what she comes and of what sort she is
यथा नष्टा इति अखण्डितम्yathā naṣṭā iti akhaṇḍitamand how she perished — unbroken; and in what way she died — entire
तत् अस्याः रोग-शालायाःtat asyāḥ roga-śālāyāḥthat, of this infirmary; so much, of this house of healing
यत्नम् कुरु चिकित्सनेyatnam kuru cikitsaneapply thy effort to the curing; put thy diligence to the treatment
Translation
“Whence she is, what she is like, and how she perished entire — apply thy effort to the curing of this infirmary.”
Version
ac86775d81d2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse softens the prohibition of the preceding: the questions “whence” and “what like” are after all named.
But they are named in one row with a third — “how she perished” — and all together are referred to cikitsana, “the curing”.
That is, one may ask exactly so far as it heals.
Note the image: roga-śālā — “an infirmary, a house of the sick”. So is named one's own body, or rather the whole human frame.
The image is neither degrading nor abusive. A hospital is a place where one is healed, not a place of shame.
This continues 3.21, where the mind is named a thing to be treated, and 4.87, where the teacher promised to tell the remedy for the mind's disease.
And further: yatnaṃ kuru — “apply effort”. Once more the teacher demands labour.