Upaniṣads · Mahā 4.28
॥
Devanāgarī
यानि दुःखानि या तृष्णा दुःसहा ये दुराधयः शान्तचेतःसु तत्सर्वं तमोऽर्केष्विव नश्यति
Transliteración (IAST)
yāni duḥkhāni yā tṛṣṇā duḥsahā ye durādhayaḥ śāntacetaḥsu tatsarvaṃ tamo'rkeṣviva naśyati
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
यानि दुःखानि या तृष्णाyāni duḥkhāni yā tṛṣṇāwhatever sufferings, whatever craving; whatever torments, whatever thirst
दुःसहाः ये दुराधयःduḥsahāḥ ye durādhayaḥwhatever unbearable afflictions; whatever insufferable anguishes
शान्त-चेतःसु तत् सर्वम्śānta-cetaḥsu tat sarvamin stilled minds all of that; in pacified consciousnesses all that
तमः अर्केषु इव नश्यतिtamaḥ arkeṣu iva naśyatiperishes like darkness before suns; vanishes, as gloom before the luminaries
Traducción
“All sufferings, all craving and the unbearable afflictions perish in stilled minds — like darkness before the sun.”
Versión
aef344ed3919 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The description of the first gatekeeper — śama, calm — begins, and will take several verses.
The image chosen is the simplest: darkness before the sun.
There is a precision in it easily missed. Darkness is not carried out in buckets; it is not fought. It is not a thing — it is the absence of light. Bring in the light — and it is gone, instantly and without effort.
So with craving and the afflictions: they are not separate enemies to be slain one by one. They rest on the mind's excitement. The mind grows still — and they have nothing to stand on.
Note the plural: arkeṣu, “before suns”. An intensifying turn — as if not one sun had risen, but many.
And further: it says śānta-cetaḥsu, “in stilled minds”, not “with stilled people”. The thing happens not to the man but to his mind.