अथ ह इन्द्रः अप्राप्य एव देवान् एतत् भयम् ददर्श यथा एव खलु अयम् अस्मिन् शरीरे साध्वलंकृते साध्वलंकृतः भवति सुवसने सुवसनः परिष्कृते परिष्कृतः एवम् एव अयम् अस्मिन् अन्धे अन्धः भवति स्रामे स्रामः परिवृक्णे परिवृक्णः अस्य एव शरीरस्य नाशम् अन्व् एषः नश्यति न अहम् अत्र भोग्यम् पश्यामि इति
atha ha indraḥ aprāpya eva devān etat bhayam dadarśa yathā eva khalu ayam asmin śarīre sādhvalaṃkṛte sādhvalaṃkṛtaḥ bhavati suvasane suvasanaḥ pariṣkṛte pariṣkṛtaḥ evam eva ayam asmin andhe andhaḥ bhavati srāme srāmaḥ parivṛkṇe parivṛkṇaḥ asya eva śarīrasya nāśam anv eṣaḥ naśyati na aham atra bhogyam paśyāmi iti
But Indra, before he had even reached the gods, saw the danger: "Just as this [reflection] is well adorned when the body is well adorned, well dressed when it is well dressed, neat when it is neat, so it is blind when the body is blind, lame when it is lame, maimed when it is maimed. With the destruction of the body it too is destroyed. I see nothing gladdening in this."
e27a7b23cb03 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:54:28 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The turning point of the whole story: Indra, "before he had even reached the gods", stops in the middle of the road. One and the same thought carried Virocana all the way home and into a sermon; Indra it would not let go half-way: if the "I" is what is in the mirror, then with an adorned body I am adorned and with a blind one blind, with a maimed one maimed, and with the body's destruction I am destroyed. Nāham atra bhogyaṁ paśyāmi — "I see nothing gladdening in this".
Wherein was Indra distinguished? Not in intelligence — both heard the same thing; not in righteousness — both came for a reward. He was distinguished by an honest anxiety: he could not hold on to the "heart at peace" bestowed by a premature answer. The ability to think a comforting thought through to its terrible end is what the Upaniṣad sets as the defining mark of a deva. Blessed is the disquiet that turns one back from half-way: it is the beginning of every return to a teacher.