Upanishads · Mahā 6.71
॥
Devanāgarī
अयं बन्धुरयं नेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ayaṃ bandhurayaṃ neti gaṇanā laghucetasām udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अयम् बन्धुः अयम् न इतिayam bandhuḥ ayam na iti“this one is kin, and this one is not”; “this is my own, and that one is not”
गणना लघु-चेतसाम्gaṇanā laghu-cetasāmis the counting of the small-souled; is the reckoning of the little in spirit
उदार-चरितानाम् तुudāra-caritānām tubut for those of generous conduct; whereas for the magnanimous in their ways
वसुधा एव कुटुम्बकम्vasudhā eva kuṭumbakamthe earth itself is one family; the whole earth is a single household
Translation
“‘This one is kin, and that one is not’ — so count the small of soul; but for those of generous conduct the whole earth is one family.”
Version
49f09f0caaba · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The most famous verse of this book, and famous far beyond the Upaniṣads: vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam — “the whole earth is one family”.
These words are carved in the hall of India's parliament and have sounded in speeches for a century and a half. Their source is here.
Note how the verse is built. It does not exhort to love all. It contrasts two temperaments.
Laghu-cetas — “small of consciousness, light of mind”. Such a one keeps gaṇanā — “a count”: this one ours, that one alien.
Udāra-carita — “generous in conduct”. The same word udāra as in 6.52 and 6.70.
And for him the earth is kuṭumbaka, “a little household, the folk of one's home”. A diminutive, warm word: not “humanity” but the household.
What matters is whence this follows. Not from sentimentality, but from all that precedes: if there is no estrangement (6.12), there is nothing to divide.
Vaiṣṇava thought reaches the same from the other side: all are His, and therefore all are kin.