न वधेन अस्य हन्यते न अस्य स्राम्येण स्रामः घ्नन्ति तु इव एनम् विच्छादयन्ति इव अप्रियवेत्ता इव भवति अपि रोदितीव न अहम् अत्र भोग्यम् पश्यामि इति एवम् एव एषः मघवन् इति ह उवाच एतम् तु एव ते भूयः अनुव्याख्यास्यामि वस अपराणि द्वात्रिंशतम् वर्षाणि इति सः ह अपराणि द्वात्रिंशतम् वर्षाणि उवास तस्मै ह उवाच
na vadhena asya hanyate na asya srāmyeṇa srāmaḥ ghnanti tu iva enam vicchādayanti iva apriyavettā iva bhavati api roditīva na aham atra bhogyam paśyāmi iti evam eva eṣaḥ maghavan iti ha uvāca etam tu eva te bhūyaḥ anuvyākhyāsyāmi vasa aparāṇi dvātriṃśatam varṣāṇi iti saḥ ha aparāṇi dvātriṃśatam varṣāṇi uvāsa tasmai ha uvāca
…he is not slain when the body is slain, he is not lame with its lameness — yet it is as if they slay him, as if they strip him; as if bitter things befall him, as if he even weeps. I see nothing gladdening in this." — "It is indeed just so, Maghavan," he said. "But I shall explain him to you further. Live here another thirty-two years." And he lived there another thirty-two years. Then Prajāpati said to him:
d6924004daa6 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 11:54:28 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
And again the confirmation — evam evaiṣa — and again the price: a third term of thirty-two years. Ninety-six years of discipleship now stand behind the king of the gods; on the scales are five words of truth about the ātman. The Upaniṣad sets down this arithmetic deliberately: let everyone who wants a "quick enlightenment" do the sum along with Indra.
There is consolation in the repetition too: the teacher has not once reproached the returning pupil, not once said "I told you so". Every return is met as a merit — with a question and a new lesson. The relation of guru and pupil is shown here in its eternal pattern: an inexhaustible patience from above, an unquieted honesty from below — on these two supports the whole transmission of knowledge rests.