Upanishads · Yājñavalkya 7
॥
Devanāgarī
मेरुशृङ्गतटोल्लासि गङ्गाजलस्योपमा । दृष्टा यस्मिन्मुने मुक्ताहारस्योल्लसशालिता
Transliteration (IAST)
meruśṛṅgataṭollāsi gaṅgājalasyopamā | dṛṣṭā yasminmune muktāhārasyollasaśālitā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मेरु-शृङ्ग-तट-उल्लासिmeru-śṛṅga-taṭa-ullāsiplaying on the slope of Meru's peak
गङ्गा-जलस्य उपमाgaṅgā-jalasya upamāa likeness of the water of the Gaṅgā
दृष्टा यस्मिन् मुनेdṛṣṭā yasmin muneseen in which, O sage
मुक्ता-हारस्य उल्लस-शालिताmuktā-hārasya ullasa-śālitāthe radiance of a pearl necklace
Translation
A likeness of the water of the Gaṅgā, playing on the slope of Meru's peak, in which is seen, O sage, the radiance of a pearl necklace …
Version
c9dd523b5b37 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The line describes beauty — and describes it well: the breast is compared to the Gaṅgā playing on Meru's slopes, with a pearl necklace like the water's shimmer. It is worth noting that this description does not revile: it admires. The device used here is usual for verses of this kind: first the beautiful is depicted, and only then does the blow fall. The next line will say that the very same thing is eaten by dogs at the cemetery.
Let us say a word about the device itself, for it is old and found in every tradition. It is called juxtaposition with the end: to show a thing in bloom and immediately in decay. It works; and no one will argue that a reminder of death sobers.
But it is worth noting where this leads if applied consistently. It devalues everything present: not only a woman's beauty, but health, and friendship, and life itself, for all of it ends the same way. The Vaiṣṇava side makes use of the reminder of death — as was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana — but does not draw from it contempt for the living.
Her grounding is this: perishability is a property of matter, not of those within it; and so the conclusion drawn from perishability is not "everything is vile," but "everything is not what it seems, and one must look at who is within." The difference between these two conclusions is great. The first leaves a person with aversion to the living; the second, with reverence for them.