Upanishads · Varāha 1.9
॥
Devanāgarī
अशना च पिपासा च शोकमोहौ जरा मृतिः । एते षडूर्मयः प्रोक्ताः षट्कोशानथ वच्मि ते
Transliteration (IAST)
aśanā ca pipāsā ca śokamohau jarā mṛtiḥ | ete ṣaḍūrmayaḥ proktāḥ ṣaṭkośānatha vacmi te
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अशना च पिपासा चaśanā ca pipāsā cahunger and thirst
शोक-मोहौ जरा मृतिःśoka-mohau jarā mṛtiḥgrief and delusion, old age and death
एते षट् ऊर्मयः प्रोक्ताःete ṣaṭ ūrmayaḥ proktāḥthese are called the six waves
षट्-कोशान् अथ वच्मि तेṣaṭ-kośān atha vacmi tenow I shall tell you of the six sheaths
Translation
"Hunger and thirst, grief and delusion, old age and death — these are called the six waves; now I shall tell you of the six sheaths."
Version
a4278826322d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The shad-urmi, "six waves," are named, and their list deserves examination, for it is arranged in pairs. Hunger and thirst — waves of the body. Grief and delusion — waves of the mind. Old age and death — waves of life.
That is, two for each tier; and all six are what washes over and recedes. The word urmi, "wave," is precisely chosen and deserves noting. A wave is not a permanent property of water: it comes and goes, and the water remains the same. So too hunger: it is not the person, but what washes over him.
This image, if held on to, is useful in the most ordinary sense. A person who identifies himself with what has washed over him — "I am hungry," "I am in anguish" — finds himself in the power of the wave; while one who says "a wave has come over me" has already separated himself from it. The Vaishnava side uses the image of waves, and adds what deserves knowing.
Waves, it says, are not calmed by reflection; and one who tries to wait them out standing still will be covered by them. They can be calmed only when a person leaves the water. Hence its means is not the observation of the waves, but occupation with something else; and of the difference between "not thinking of that" and "thinking of something else," it was discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (7.2).