Upanishads · Varāha 4.13
॥
Devanāgarī
विच्छिन्नशरदभ्रांशविलयं प्रविलीयते । सत्वावशेष एवास्ते हि निदाघ दृढीकुरु
Transliteration (IAST)
vicchinnaśaradabhrāṃśavilayaṃ pravilīyate | satvāvaśeṣa evāste hi nidāgha dṛḍhīkuru
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
विच्छिन्न-शरद-अभ्र-अंश-vicchinna-śarada-abhra-aṃśa-like fragments of a torn autumn cloud
विलयं प्रविलीयतेvilayaṃ pravilīyateit dissolves by dissolution
सत्त्व-अवशेषः एव आस्तेsattva-avaśeṣaḥ eva āsteonly a remainder of clarity remains
हि निदाघ दृढी-कुरुhi nidāgha dṛḍhī-kuruO Nidagha, make this firm in yourself
Translation
"[The world] dissolves by dissolution, like fragments of a torn autumn cloud; only a remainder of clarity remains. O Nidagha, make this firm in yourself."
Version
5fcb7fd9e372 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The comparison with an autumn cloud is given, and it is a commonplace in Indian literature, for it is drawn from observation. After the rains, clouds grow porous and disperse in fragments without shedding rain; and these are the only clouds that vanish of themselves, without rain and without wind. The comparison is more precise than it seems: it is not said "is dispersed," but vilayam pravilliyate, "dissolves by dissolution."
That is, the end is described with a word of diminishing, not a word of destruction. Let us add the word dridhi-kuru, "make firm, establish," addressed to Nidagha. Worth noting is that the teacher here does not explain, but commands making it firm; and this indicates the matter concerns practice, not understanding.
Let us add what the Vaishnava side notes in this comparison, and which gives it a different reading. The cloud disperses — and the sky remains. The question, then, is not the cloud, but what one counts as the sky; and the whole dispute of the two readings is over whether there is something with a form behind what disperses, or only bare, empty clarity.
Its answer has been cited more than once, and rests on the word shivam, "benign," in the Mandukya, and on the names that surface at the end of negative lists; and of the verse ending in the name Janardana, discussed when reading the third chapter (3.19).