Upaniṣads · Mahā 4.131
॥
Devanāgarī
अहो नु चित्रं यत्सत्यं ब्रह्म तद्विस्मृतं नृणाम् तिष्ठतस्तव कार्येषु मास्तु रागानुरञ्जना
Transliteración (IAST)
aho nu citraṃ yatsatyaṃ brahma tadvismṛtaṃ nṛṇām tiṣṭhatastava kāryeṣu māstu rāgānurañjanā
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अहो नु चित्रम् यत् सत्यम्aho nu citram yat satyamoh, what a wonder: that the true; ah, here is a marvel: that the real
ब्रह्म तत् विस्मृतम् नृणाम्brahma tat vismṛtam nṛṇāmBrahman is forgotten by men; Brahman is by men consigned to oblivion
तिष्ठतः तव कार्येषुtiṣṭhataḥ tava kāryeṣufor thee, abiding in thy works; for thee, engaged in thy affairs
मा अस्तु राग-अनुरञ्जनाmā astu rāga-anurañjanālet there be no tinting by passion; may there be no colouring by fondness
Traducción
“Oh, what a wonder: the true Brahman is forgotten by men! May there be, then, no tinting by passion for thee, engaged in thy works.”
Versión
bcdde535cfc7 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
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The exclamation aho nu citram — “oh, what a wonder!” — opens the chapter's three last verses, and each has its own amazement.
The first wonder: men have forgotten Brahman.
They forgot not something rare and hidden, but that which is everything and everywhere (4.118). To forget such a thing is harder than to remember — and yet they forgot.
The second half is Ṛbhu's last instruction, and it is short: mā astu rāga-anurañjanā.
The word anurañjanā means “colouring, tinting”, from the root “to dye”. Rāga, “passion”, is of the same root: literally “dye, colour”.
The image is exact. Passion adds nothing material to a deed; it tints it — and hence one deed seems desirable and another repugnant.
Note the proviso tiṣṭhataḥ tava kāryeṣu — “for thee, engaged in thy works”. The works remain. What is forbidden is not the work but its colouring.