Upanishads · Mahā 5.133
॥
Devanāgarī
इअमं संसारमखिलमाशापाशविधायकम् दधदन्तःफलैर्हीनं वटधाना वटं यथा
Transliteration (IAST)
iamaṃ saṃsāramakhilamāśāpāśavidhāyakam dadhadantaḥphalairhīnaṃ vaṭadhānā vaṭaṃ yathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इमम् संसारम् अखिलम्imam saṃsāram akhilamthis entire round; the whole of this revolving
आशा-पाश-विधायकम्āśā-pāśa-vidhāyakamthe framer of the noose of hopes; the deviser of the lasso of expectations
दधत् अन्तः फलैः हीनम्dadhat antaḥ phalaiḥ hīnamit bears within, itself devoid of fruits; it carries inside, itself destitute of fruit
वट-धाना वटम् यथाvaṭa-dhānā vaṭam yathāas the banyan seed bears the banyan; just as the banyan grain bears the banyan tree
Translation
“It bears within itself this entire round, the framer of the noose of hopes, being itself devoid of fruits — as the banyan seed bears the banyan.”
Version
8845ebd38502 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The image of the banyan seed is from the Chāndogya, where Uddālaka bids his son split the fruit, then the seed, and asks what he sees; the son answers: nothing. And the father says: out of that very subtlety the huge banyan has grown.
Here the same image is applied to the mind: it carries the whole round within itself, being itself phalair hīnam — “devoid of fruits”, that is, having nothing manifest inside.
Note that the banyan is a singular tree: it sends down aerial roots, and one tree spreads into a whole grove.
The Bhagavad-gītā in its fifteenth chapter also begins with the banyan, and there it is ordered felled with the weapon of non-attachment.
Āśā-pāśa — “the noose of hopes”; the assonance is deliberate: āśā and pāśa.