Upanishads · Mahā 6.75
॥
Devanāgarī
वैराग्यात्पूर्णतामेति मनो नाशवशानुगम् आशया रक्ततामेति शरदीव सरोऽमलम्
Transliteration (IAST)
vairāgyātpūrṇatāmeti mano nāśavaśānugam āśayā raktatāmeti śaradīva saro'malam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वैराग्यात् पूर्णताम् एतिvairāgyāt pūrṇatām etifrom dispassion it comes to fullness; out of detachment it attains plenitude
मनः नाश-वश-अनुगम्manaḥ nāśa-vaśa-anugamthe mind, following the sway of its own perishing; consciousness, obedient to its own destruction
आशया रक्तताम् एतिāśayā raktatām etifrom hope it comes to colouring; out of expectation it takes on colour
शरदि इव सरः अमलम्śaradi iva saraḥ amalamlike a clear lake in autumn; just as a limpid pool in the fall
Translation
“From dispassion the mind, moving toward its own perishing, comes to fullness; from hope it comes to colouring — like a clear lake in autumn.”
Version
68d5a48f04d2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A difficult verse, and its image is double.
The first half is plain: from dispassion the mind grows full while moving toward its own perishing. Fullness and diminution together — the same as was said in 5.60: plenitude is attained by subtraction.
The second half is of colouring. Raktatā means both “colouredness” and “passion”; the root is the same as rāga's.
An autumn lake takes colour — from the sky, the sunset, what is above it. In itself it is transparent.
So the mind: from hope it takes the colour of what it hopes for.
Note that the autumn image in this book is always of clarity (4.17, 4.95, 5.53). Here it is used otherwise — and hence the verse is ambiguous.
I render it word for word, without smoothing.