Upaniṣads · Mahā 2.13
॥
Devanāgarī
इदं वस्त्विति विश्वासं नासावात्मन्युपाययौ केवलं विररामास्य चेतो विषयचापलम् भोगेभ्यो भूरिभङ्गेभ्यो धाराभ्य इव चातकः
Transliteración (IAST)
idaṃ vastviti viśvāsaṃ nāsāvātmanyupāyayau kevalaṃ virarāmāsya ceto viṣayacāpalam bhogebhyo bhūribhaṅgebhyo dhārābhya iva cātakaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
इदम् वस्तु इति विश्वासम्idam vastu iti viśvāsamthe confidence “this is the reality”; the trust: here is the substance
न असौ आत्मनि उपाययौna asau ātmani upāyayauhe did not attain in himself; he did not bring about within him
केवलम् विरराम अस्य चेतःkevalam virarāma asya cetaḥonly his mind turned away; his consciousness merely withdrew
विषय-चापलम् भोगेभ्यःviṣaya-cāpalam bhogebhyaḥfrom the fickleness of objects, from enjoyments; from the restlessness of the sensory, from pleasures
भूरि-भङ्गेभ्यः धाराभ्यः इव चातकःbhūri-bhaṅgebhyaḥ dhārābhyaḥ iva cātakaḥoft-breaking, as the cātaka from the streams; ever-failing, like the cātaka from the torrents
Traducción
The confidence “this is the reality” he did not find in himself; only his mind turned away from the fickleness of objects and from enjoyments that break off again and again — as the cātaka turns from streams of water.
Versión
32d6e0dc8e14 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The verse specifies what exactly Śuka lacked: viśvāsa — “trust, conviction” that this indeed is the reality.
The word is chosen deliberately. Not jñāna, not niścaya — of those he had enough. Precisely viśvāsa, what is best rendered “faith”: not “information” but “trust”.
What he did have is said in the second half. His mind turned from the sensory. The detachment is there; the trust is not.
The image of the cātaka at the end deserves a separate word. By the lore, this bird does not drink from rivers and puddles but waits for the raindrop. Here the comparison is inverted: Śuka turns away from the “streams”, from the abundant torrents of enjoyment, and waits for something else.
Vaiṣṇava thought lays the stress on this inverted cātaka. Aversion from the world is not yet half the work. The bird that has turned from the rivers will die of thirst if the rain does not come. Renunciation by itself gives no drink.