Upanishads · Mahā 5.141
॥
Devanāgarī
केचिन्महेन्द्रमलयसह्यमन्दरमेरवः केचित्क्षारोदधिक्षीरघृतेक्षुजलराशयः
Transliteration (IAST)
kecinmahendramalayasahyamandarameravaḥ kecitkṣārodadhikṣīraghṛtekṣujalarāśayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
केचित् महेन्द्र-मलयkecit mahendra-malayasome — Mahendra, Malaya; certain ones are Mahendra and Malaya
सह्य-मन्दर-मेरवःsahya-mandara-meravaḥSahya, Mandara and Meru; Sahya, Mandara and Meru
केचित् क्षार-उदधि-क्षीरkecit kṣāra-udadhi-kṣīrasome — the salt ocean, the milk one; certain ones are the briny sea, the milky one
घृत-इक्षु-जल-राशयःghṛta-ikṣu-jala-rāśayaḥthe ghee and cane-juice masses of water; the butter sea and the sugarcane sea — masses of water
Translation
“…some are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Mandara, Meru; some are the oceans — of salt, of milk, of ghee, of cane juice…”
Version
521b286f708a · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Now the mountains and the oceans.
Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya are mountain ranges of India. Mandara is the mountain with which the ocean was churned (cf. 4.40). Meru is the world's axis.
The oceans are named after the legend of the seven seas surrounding the continents: of salt, of milk, of clarified butter, of sugarcane juice.
Note that the catalogue has included mountains and seas on a par with beings.
This is no slip. In Indian tradition the great mountains and rivers are no lifeless masses; they have their deities, and they are the bodies of someone's souls.
The thought is coherent in itself: if the form is given according to vāsanās, then such a form too was earned by someone.
And further: a mountain is motionless and long-lived. For certain inclinations that is a fitting body.