उपनिषद् · Kena 3.11
॥
देवनागरी
अथेन्द्रम् अब्रुवन् मघवन्न् एतद् विजानीहि किम् एतद् यक्षम् इति तथेति तद् अभ्यद्रवत् तस्मात् तिरोदधे ॥
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
athendram abruvan maghavann etad vijānīhi kim etad yakṣam iti tatheti tad abhyadravat tasmāt tirodadhe ||
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अथathathen; after this
इन्द्रम्indramto Indra; to Indra
अब्रुवन्abruvanthey said; they addressed
मघवन्maghavanO Maghavan ('the Bountiful' — a name of Indra); O mighty giver; O lord of the gods
एतत्etatthis; him
विजानीहिvijānīhifind out; identify
किम्kimwhat; which
एतत्etatthis; here
यक्षम्yakṣammysterious being; wondrous apparition
इतिitithus; saying
तथाtathāso [be it]; very well
इतिitithus; having said
तत्tatto Him; towards that
अभ्यद्रवत्abhyadravatran up; approached
तस्मात्tasmātfrom him; before him
तिरोदधेtirodadhevanished (tiras-√dhā — 'to place behind a veil'); disappeared; hid Himself
अनुवाद
Then they said to Indra: "O Maghavan, find out what this yakṣa is." — "Very well." He rushed towards Him — but [the yakṣa] vanished from him.
संस्करण
e1b1c59ab379 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 7:28:41 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The third is the king of the gods himself. maghavan — "the Bountiful", Indra's honorific. But with him the yakṣa deals otherwise than with the envoys: tasmāt tirodadhe — "He vanished from him". No question, no trial — a disappearance.
In the seeming disfavour lies the highest favour. Agni and Vāyu were shown their impotence; Indra is shown something deeper — abandonment by God: what it is like when He withdraws not a power but His very presence. The lesson of impotence humbles the faculties; the lesson of absence wounds the heart — and therefore wakes it. Concealment too is the Lord's speech: He hides not from the seeker but for the seeker, so that unslaked longing may drive him further.
And so it proves: Agni and Vāyu, having met their rebuff, went back to the gods; Indra, having lost the very vision, will not go back until he knows. The next mantra finds him in the same place, where the vanishing occurred: not departed, but seeking. Thus the Upaniṣad quietly changes the measure of greatness: the king of the gods stands above the rest not by power but by persistence in seeking.