Upanishads · Mahā 5.144
॥
Devanāgarī
पतन्ति केचिदबुधाः सम्प्राप्यापि विवेकताम् दिक्कालाद्यनवच्छिन्नमात्मतत्त्वं स्वशक्तितः
Transliteration (IAST)
patanti kecidabudhāḥ samprāpyāpi vivekatām dikkālādyanavacchinnamātmatattvaṃ svaśaktitaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पतन्ति केचित् अबुधाःpatanti kecit abudhāḥsome fall, the unwise; certain ones plunge down, the reasonless
सम्प्राप्य अपि विवेकताम्samprāpya api vivekatāmeven having attained discernment; though they had gained discrimination
दिक्-काल-आदि-अनवच्छिन्नम्dik-kāla-ādi-anavacchinnamunbounded by quarters, time and the rest; not cut off by directions, time and the like
आत्म-तत्त्वम् स्व-शक्तितःātma-tattvam sva-śaktitaḥthe truth of the Ātman, by its own power; the reality of the Self, through its proper might
Translation
“…and some fall, the unwise, even having attained discernment. Now the truth of the Ātman, unbounded by the quarters and time, by its own power…”
Version
d209eb073f56 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The end of the catalogue, and it is disquieting.
Even those fall who had attained viveka — discernment, that is, stood on the second stage of knowledge (5.24).
Note the word abudhāḥ — “unwise”. It is applied to those who had discernment.
That is, what is attained does not hold of itself. The stage one has climbed to can be lost.
A sobering passage after so many verses on the upward ladder. The book does not promise the ascent irreversible.
The second half begins a new thought, to be finished in the next verse: how the Ātman itself, by its own power, takes on a form.
Dik-kāla-ādy-anavacchinna — “unbounded by quarters and time”. The three frames of 4.41 and 5.121.