Upaniṣads · Praśna 6.6
॥
Devanāgarī
अरा इव रथनाभौ कला यस्मिन् प्रतिष्ठिताः ।
तं वेद्यं पुरुषं वेद यथा मा वो मृत्युः परिव्यथा इति
Transliteración (IAST)
arā iva rathanābhau kalā yasmin pratiṣṭhitāḥ /
taṃ vedyaṃ puruṣaṃ veda yathā mā vo mṛtyuḥ parivyathā iti
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अराः इवarāḥ ivaas the spokes; like the radii of a wheel
रथनाभौrathanābhauin the hub of a chariot wheel; at the centre of the wheel
कलाःkalāḥthe parts; the portions
यस्मिन्yasminin whom; in which
प्रतिष्ठिताःpratiṣṭhitāḥare established; they rest
तम्tamit; that one
वेद्यम्vedyamwho is to be known (vedya — gerundive of √vid); the object of knowledge; him whom one ought to know
पुरुषम्puruṣamthe Puruṣa; the person
वेदvedaknow it; know
यथाyathāso that; in such a way that
माmānot; may you not
वःvaḥyou; for you
मृत्युःmṛtyuḥdeath; Yama
परिव्यथाः इतिparivyathāḥ itiwounded, tormented (pari-√vyath — 'to afflict all round'); tortured; harrowed
Traducción
"Know the Puruṣa who is to be known — him in whom the parts are established as spokes in the hub of a wheel — that death may not afflict you."
Versión
84a0c1ad3c0e · publicado 26 jul 2026, 20:35:21 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The sealing verse of the sixth question. arā iva ratha-nābhau kalā yasmin pratiṣṭhitāḥ — "in whom the parts are established as spokes in a hub": the formula returns from the second question (verse 22) — but with a royal correction: there the hub of everything was prāṇa; here the hub of prāṇa herself and of all the kalās is the Puruṣa. A wheel within a wheel: the nave too has an Axle.
taṁ vedyaṁ puruṣaṁ veda — "know that Puruṣa who is to be known": vedya is a gerundive, "the one who ought to be known": of all that is knowable He alone is obligatory; the rest of knowledge is about spokes. yathā mā vo mṛtyuḥ parivyathāḥ — "that death may not torment you" (pari-√vyath — "to afflict all round"): the aim of knowledge is named without ornament — not erudition but freedom from the age-old torment of mortal fear: he who has come to know the Hub ceases to revolve with the rim.
Note the kinship of the closings: the Kaṭha ended with "draw out the pith from the reed", the Praśna with "find the hub of the wheel": one gesture — through the sheaths to the Axle. And the fact that prāṇa's formula (verse 22) is repeated of the Puruṣa is the Upaniṣad's whole ladder in two notes: first we learned to see the Life behind the powers, now the Lord behind the Life.