Upanishads · Mahā 6.24
॥
Devanāgarī
सतोऽसत्ता स्थिता मूर्ध्नि रम्याणां मूर्ध्न्यरम्यता सुखानां मूर्ध्निदुःखानि किमेकं संश्रयाम्यहम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sato'sattā sthitā mūrdhni ramyāṇāṃ mūrdhnyaramyatā sukhānāṃ mūrdhniduḥkhāni kimekaṃ saṃśrayāmyaham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सतः असत्ता स्थिता मूर्ध्निsataḥ asattā sthitā mūrdhniover the existent stands non-being at its head; above the existent, non-existence is set at its crown
रम्याणाम् मूर्ध्नि अरम्यताramyāṇām mūrdhni aramyatāover the lovely, at its head, unloveliness; above the delightful, at its crown, unsightliness
सुखानाम् मूर्ध्नि दुःखानिsukhānām mūrdhni duḥkhāniover the joys, at their head, the sorrows; above the pleasures, at their crown, the pains
किम् एकम् संश्रयामि अहम्kim ekam saṃśrayāmi ahamto what one thing shall I resort; to what single thing am I to flee for refuge
Translation
“At the head of the existent stands non-being, at the head of the lovely unloveliness, at the head of joys the sorrows. To what one thing shall I resort?”
Version
9867ad6f4de8 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image mūrdhni — “at the head, at the pillow” — as of a sick man over whom the nurse stands. Or like an inscription over a door.
Over every being stands its non-being; over every beauty its unsightliness; over every joy its grief.
Not “after”, but precisely “over”: they attend them without leaving.
Note the question at the end: kim ekaṃ saṃśrayāmy aham — “to what one thing shall I resort?”
The verb saṃśri — “to resort, to take refuge”. The same root as āśraya.
The question breaks out of itself, and it is exactly the Vaiṣṇava one: not “what am I to understand”, but “to what am I to flee”.
A direct answer the book does not give here; but by name it has already given its answer — in the first adhyāya, where “Nārāyaṇa alone was”.