Upaniṣads · Mahā 5.80
॥
Devanāgarī
लालनात्स्निग्धललना पालानात्पालकः पिता सुहृदुत्तमविन्यासान्मनो मन्ये मनीषिणः
Transliteración (IAST)
lālanātsnigdhalalanā pālānātpālakaḥ pitā suhṛduttamavinyāsānmano manye manīṣiṇaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
लालनात् स्निग्ध-ललनाlālanāt snigdha-lalanāby fondling — a tender wife; in its caressing, a loving spouse
पालनात् पालकः पिताpālanāt pālakaḥ pitāby protecting — a guardian father; in its keeping, a fostering parent
सुहृत् उत्तम-विन्यासात्suhṛt uttama-vinyāsāta friend, by its excellent arranging; a companion, through its superb disposing
मनः मन्ये मनीषिणःmanaḥ manye manīṣiṇaḥsuch, I deem, is the mind of the wise; such, I think, is consciousness in the understanding man
Traducción
“By its fondling a tender wife, by its protecting a guardian father, by its excellent arranging a friend — such, I deem, is the mind of the wise.”
Versión
381c9d89f705 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The series continues, and now the kinship is domestic: wife, father, friend.
This is perhaps the warmest passage of the whole book.
Note whence the comparisons are taken. The mind caresses like a wife; guards like a father; arranges for the best like a friend.
All this of the same mind that in the third chapter ran about the village as a stray dog (3.18).
And once more it is worth saying why the book gives these two verses. It does not want the reader to war with his own mind all his life.
An enemy it is while self-willed. The discerning man it serves — and serves with a household's devotion.
The Vaiṣṇava tradition says the same otherwise: a mind occupied with Him ceases to be a problem, because it has found work worthy of it.