Upanishads · Mahā 5.140
॥
Devanāgarī
केचित्तृणौषधीवृक्षफलमूलपतङ्गकाः केचित्कदम्बजम्बीरसालतालतमालकाः
Transliteration (IAST)
kecittṛṇauṣadhīvṛkṣaphalamūlapataṅgakāḥ kecitkadambajambīrasālatālatamālakāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
केचित् तृण-ओषधी-वृक्षkecit tṛṇa-oṣadhī-vṛkṣasome — grasses, herbs, trees; certain ones are blades, healing plants, trees
फल-मूल-पतङ्गकाःphala-mūla-pataṅgakāḥfruits, roots, moths; fruits, tubers, little winged things
केचित् कदम्ब-जम्बीरkecit kadamba-jambīrasome — the kadamba, the citron; certain ones are the kadamba and the lime
साल-ताल-तमालकाःsāla-tāla-tamālakāḥthe sāla, the palm, the tamāla; the sāla, the palmyra, the tamāla
Translation
“…some are grasses, herbs, trees, fruits, roots, moths; some are the kadamba, the citron, the sāla, the palm, the tamāla…”
Version
153d3a90cc05 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The catalogue descends to the plants, and the trees are named by name.
The kadamba is a tree with orange globe-shaped blossoms, in Vaiṣṇava letters a token of Vṛndāvana. The sāla is a tall timber tree. The tāla is the palmyra. The tamāla is a dark tree with which the colour of Kṛṣṇa's body is compared.
Note that the book did not spare itself the trouble of listing them. It could have said “trees” — and did not.
This is the point of the whole enumeration. Not “beings in general”, but this kadamba, this palm, this moth.
In each is a soul that has walked the same path of descent described in 5.124–5.129.
The catalogue will go further and reach the mountains and rivers.