Upanishads · Mahā 5.143
॥
Devanāgarī
कन्तुका इव हस्तेन मृत्युनाऽविरतं हताः भुक्त्वा जन्मसहस्राणि भूयः संसारसंकटे
Transliteration (IAST)
kantukā iva hastena mṛtyunā'virataṃ hatāḥ bhuktvā janmasahasrāṇi bhūyaḥ saṃsārasaṃkaṭe
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कन्दुकाः इव हस्तेनkandukāḥ iva hastenalike balls, with the hand; just as playing-balls, with the palm
मृत्युना अ-विरतम् हताःmṛtyunā a-viratam hatāḥstruck by death without cease; beaten by death without intermission
भुक्त्वा जन्म-सहस्राणिbhuktvā janma-sahasrāṇihaving tasted thousands of births; having gone through thousands of lives
भूयः संसार-संकटेbhūyaḥ saṃsāra-saṃkaṭeagain in the strait of the round; once more in the narrows of the whirl
Translation
“…like balls struck without cease by the hand of death; having tasted thousands of births, they are again in the strait of the round…”
Version
3bf05c546a73 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The ball image is among the most exact in the whole book.
The ball flies up not because it wants to, and falls not because it is tired. It is struck.
And struck a-viratam — “without cease”. Between the blows it does not rest: it is in flight.
Note the words mṛtyunā hastena — “by the hand of death”. Death here is not the end but the player: it does not stop the movement, it keeps it going.
This is the exact correction of the usual notion. We think death stops things; the book says death is that with which one strikes so that the flight may continue.
Saṃkaṭa — “the strait”, the same word as in 3.25.
And bhūyaḥ — “again”. The ball returns into the same hand.