उपनिषद् · Śvetāśvatara 4.6
॥
देवनागरी
द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते ।
तयोर् अन्यः पिप्पलं स्वाद्व् अत्त्य् अनश्नन्न् अन्यो अभिचाकशीति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṃ vṛkṣaṃ pariṣasvajāte /
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṃ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhicākaśīti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
द्वा सुपर्णाdvā suparṇātwo fair-winged birds; two of beautiful plumage
सयुजाsayujāinseparable; yoked together
सखायाsakhāyāfriends; companions
समानम् वृक्षम्samānam vṛkṣamone and the same tree; a shared tree
परिषस्वजातेpariṣasvajātethey embrace; they have clasped
तयोः अन्यःtayoḥ anyaḥone of them; the first of the two
पिप्पलम्pippalamthe fig; the sweet berry
स्वादुsvādusweet; delicious
अत्तिattieats; consumes
अनश्नन्anaśnannot eating; touching no food
अन्यःanyaḥthe other; the second
अभिचाकशीतिabhicākaśītilooks on; gazes at her
अनुवाद
Two fair-winged birds, inseparable friends, embrace one and the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fig, while the other, not eating, looks on.
संस्करण
f4abba1613de · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:13:46 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The most famous image of the Vedas: the Ṛgveda knows it, and the Muṇḍaka, and the Śvetāśvatara. The tree is the body and the whole round of life; the birds are the soul and the Lord.
First nearness is stated, and stated in two words: sayujā — "yoked together", sakhāyā — "friends". Not master and slave, not judge and defendant: friends on one branch. This is one of the most consoling lines of śruti: God is called the soul's companion before their difference is described.
Then the difference, and it lies in what they do. One eats the sweet berry, the other does not eat and watches. The eater is the soul immersed in the fruits of its deeds; the watcher is the Lord, the "non-doer" of 1.9, who is present but not involved.
The nicety is that the second bird has not turned away and not flown off: it "looks on" — the same verb abhicākaśīti that stood in the prayer of 3.5, where Rudra was asked to "look upon". God's uninvolvement is not indifference but attention without partaking of the bitterness.
And further: the birds embrace the tree, pariṣasvajāte — that is, both hold to it. While the soul eats, it holds on; when it lifts its eyes it will find that a Friend has been sitting beside it all along. Of this the next mantra speaks.