Upaniṣads · Mahā 4.22
॥
Devanāgarī
शरीरमस्थिमांसं च त्यक्त्वा रक्ताद्यशोभनम् भूतमुक्तावलीतन्तुं चिन्मात्रमवलोकयेत्
Transliteración (IAST)
śarīramasthimāṃsaṃ ca tyaktvā raktādyaśobhanam bhūtamuktāvalītantuṃ cinmātramavalokayet
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
शरीरम् अस्थि-मांसम् चśarīram asthi-māṃsam cathe body, its bones and flesh; the frame, the bones and the muscles
त्यक्त्वा रक्त-आदि अशोभनम्tyaktvā rakta-ādi aśobhanamleaving aside, with blood and the other unsightly things; having set aside the blood and the rest that is uncomely
भूत-मुक्ता-आवली-तन्तुम्bhūta-muktā-āvalī-tantumthe thread in the pearl-string of beings; the cord in the pearl necklace of creatures
चिन्-मात्रम् अवलोकयेत्cin-mātram avalokayetlet him behold consciousness alone; let him discern pure awareness only
Traducción
“Leaving aside the body — bones, flesh, blood and the rest that is unsightly — let him behold pure consciousness, the thread in the pearl-string of beings.”
Versión
7091c11217bb · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The image that redeems the whole third chapter.
There the body was taken apart into bones and blood, and the matter ended there: no loveliness. Here the same dissection is done not for the sake of emptying, but in order to see what remains.
What remains is a thread: bhūta-muktā-āvalī-tantu — “the thread in the necklace of pearl-beings”.
The pearls are the beings, each separate, of different size and kind. The thread is consciousness, passing through them all.
This image is applied in the Bhagavad-gītā to the Supreme: “on Me all is strung, like pearls on a thread”. The coincidence is not accidental; here the book comes right up to that with which it itself began.
Note also the difference from Advaita in the image itself. The thread does not abolish the pearls: they do not turn into the thread and do not vanish. Their unity is in all being on one thread.