Upaniṣads · Varāha 2.67
॥
Devanāgarī
अहिनिर्व्लयनी सर्पनिर्मोको जीववर्जितः । वल्मीके पतितस्तिष्ठेत्तं सर्पो नाभिमन्यते
Transliteración (IAST)
ahinirvlayanī sarpanirmoko jīvavarjitaḥ | valmīke patitastiṣṭhettaṃ sarpo nābhimanyate
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अहि-निर्व्लयनी सर्प-निर्मोकःahi-nirvlayanī sarpa-nirmokaḥthe shed skin of a serpent, sloughed off
जीव-वर्जितःjīva-varjitaḥdevoid of life
वल्मीके पतितः तिष्ठेत्valmīke patitaḥ tiṣṭhethaving fallen on an anthill, lies
तं सर्पः न अभिमन्यतेtaṃ sarpaḥ na abhimanyatethe serpent does not consider it its own
Traducción
"The shed skin of a serpent, devoid of life, lies fallen on an anthill; the serpent does not consider it its own."
Versión
0c3a59f70342 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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A comparison from the Brihadaranyaka is cited, and it is among the finest in the whole of Upanishadic literature. Here is the original: tad yathahinirlvayani valmike mrita pratyasta shayita, evam evedam shariram shete, "as the sloughed skin of a serpent lies dead on an anthill, so too lies this body" (4.4.7). It is worth examining why the comparison is so good.
First: the skin truly was part of the serpent; it is not an illusion or an error. It was shed, not discovered to be nonexistent. Second: the serpent afterward is whole and alive; it has not dissolved or vanished.
Third: tam sarpo nabhimanyate, "the serpent does not consider it its own"; and the verb abhimanyate is from abhimana, "appropriation," discussed when reading the first chapter (1.13). That is, the comparison speaks not of the body's illusoriness, but of the end of appropriation. The Vaishnava side holds this comparison and prefers it to the pot with space; its argument is the one discussed more than once: the serpent is alive, while space is not.
Let us add what is implicit in the comparison and deserves holding onto. A serpent sheds its skin more than once: it does this its whole life, and each time emerges whole. And hence this image fits not only death, but every change: what a person leaves behind — habits, positions, even convictions — was his and ceased to be; and he remained.