Upanishads · Mahā 5.168
॥
Devanāgarī
धनदारेषु वृद्धेषु दुःखयुक्तं न तुष्टता वृद्धायां मोहमायायां कः समाश्वासवानिह
Transliteration (IAST)
dhanadāreṣu vṛddheṣu duḥkhayuktaṃ na tuṣṭatā vṛddhāyāṃ mohamāyāyāṃ kaḥ samāśvāsavāniha
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
धन-दारेषु वृद्धेषुdhana-dāreṣu vṛddheṣuwhen wealth and wives have multiplied; at the increase of substance and spouses
दुःख-युक्तम् न तुष्टताduḥkha-yuktam na tuṣṭatāit is joined with suffering, not contentment; it is coupled with pain and not with satisfaction
वृद्धायाम् मोह-मायायाम्vṛddhāyām moha-māyāyāmwhen the deluding māyā has grown great; at the swelling of the befooling glamour
कः समाश्वास-वान् इहkaḥ samāśvāsa-vān ihawho here can breathe at ease; who in this place can be serene
Translation
“When wealth and wives have multiplied, it is joined with suffering, not contentment; with the delusion grown great, who here can breathe at ease?”
Version
33a9048a1611 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A simple and verifiable observation: the more property, the more suffering.
Note the word vṛddha — “grown, increased”. It is repeated twice: the property has grown, the delusion has grown.
The one grows with the other.
That is the argument. Not “wealth is evil”, but “increase yields not contentment but care”.
Recall 3.7, where Nidāgha called riches “a windlass laden with cares”.
Samāśvāsa-vān — “one who has respite, at ease”. The word is from the root meaning “to catch one's breath”.
The question is rhetorical: who here is to catch his breath?
The book gave the answer long ago: he who is content (4.34–4.37). Contentment does not depend on quantity.