Upanishads · Mahā 5.186
॥
Devanāgarī
जीवस्य तण्डुलस्येव मलं सहजमप्यलम् नश्यत्येव न सन्देहस्तस्मादुद्योगवान्भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
jīvasya taṇḍulasyeva malaṃ sahajamapyalam naśyatyeva na sandehastasmādudyogavānbhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जीवस्य तण्डुलस्य इवjīvasya taṇḍulasya ivaof the jīva, as of the rice grain; in the soul, just as in the grain of rice
मलम् सहजम् अपि अलम्malam sahajam api alamthe taint, though inborn, fully; the defilement, albeit congenital, entirely
नश्यति एव न सन्देहःnaśyati eva na sandehaḥdoes perish — there is no doubt; does vanish — of that no doubt
तस्मात् उद्योग-वान् भवेत्tasmāt udyoga-vān bhavettherefore let him be industrious; hence let him be full of endeavour
Translation
“In the jīva the taint, as in the rice grain, though inborn, fully perishes — there is no doubt; therefore let him be industrious.”
Version
757d62f075f4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The chapter's last verse, and it is about hope.
Note the word sahaja — “inborn, born together with”. The husk grows with the grain; it does not settle on it later; and still it is threshed off.
So too with our taint: it has been with us from the start, and that is no argument against its removal.
This is an important objection to despondency. The usual excuse is “that is just how I was born”. The verse replies: the rice too was born in its husk.
Na sandehaḥ — “there is no doubt”. The teacher vouches.
And the chapter's last word: udyoga-vān bhavet — “let him be industrious”. Udyoga means “effort, enterprise, endeavour”.
The book's longest chapter — a hundred and eighty-six verses of stages, vāsanās, elements and worlds — ends neither in rapture nor in negation, but in a plain “set to work”.