Upaniṣads · Mahā 3.42
॥
Devanāgarī
श्मशानेषु दिगन्तेषु स एव ललनास्तनः श्वभिरास्वाद्यते काले लघुपिण्ड इवान्धसः
Transliteración (IAST)
śmaśāneṣu diganteṣu sa eva lalanāstanaḥ śvabhirāsvādyate kāle laghupiṇḍa ivāndhasaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
श्मशानेषु दिक्-अन्तेषुśmaśāneṣu dik-anteṣuin the burning-grounds, at the ends of the quarters; at the cremation places, at the edges of the horizons
सः एव ललना-स्तनःsaḥ eva lalanā-stanaḥthat very woman's breast; the selfsame breast of the fair one
श्वभिः आस्वाद्यते कालेśvabhiḥ āsvādyate kāleis savoured by dogs in due time; is in its season eaten by the dogs
लघु-पिण्डः इव अन्धसःlaghu-piṇḍaḥ iva andhasaḥlike a small lump of food; just like a little morsel of victuals
Traducción
“In the burning-grounds at the ends of the quarters, that very breast is in due time savoured by dogs, like a small lump of food.”
Versión
2d89afebcc79 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
This is what breaks off the previous verse's picture.
Pearls, the Gaṅgā, the slope of Meru — and a line later: the same dogs as in 3.18, the same laghu-piṇḍa, “a little morsel of victuals”.
The device is ancient, and it strikes surely. It is not said “there is no beauty” — it is said “the very same” (sa eva). The admiration is not refuted; only its ending is written in.
Here something must be said that is not in the verse but that the reader is bound to hold. All that is said of a woman's breast applies exactly to the body of Nidāgha himself and of everyone reading. The inquiry into mortality does not divide people into ranks.
And second. The power of such reflections lies in sobering, not in disgust. Whoever leaves them with squeamishness toward the living has failed the exercise: squeamishness is as much a clinging of the mind as craving, only with the sign reversed.
The aim is to see that the object of love is not in the substance. Then love does not perish — it relocates.