उपनिषद् · Kauṣītaki 4.12
॥
देवनागरी
स होवाच बालाकिर्य एवैष शब्दः पुरुषमन्वेति तमेवाहमुपास इति तं होवाचाजातशत्रुर्मा मैतस्मिन्समवादयिष्ठा असुरिति वा अहमेतमुपास इति स यो हैतमेवमुपास्ते नो एव स्वयं नास्य प्रजा पुरा कालात्संमोहमेति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
sa hovāca bālākirya evaiṣa śabdaḥ puruṣamanveti tamevāhamupāsa iti taṃ hovācājātaśatrurmā maitasminsamavādayiṣṭhā asuriti vā ahametamupāsa iti sa yo haitamevamupāste no eva svayaṃ nāsya prajā purā kālātsaṃmohameti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सः ह उवाच बालाकिःsaḥ ha uvāca bālākiḥBālāki said; spoke Bālāki
यः एव एषः शब्दःyaḥ eva eṣaḥ śabdaḥ“the sound”, which; “the voice that”
पुरुषम् अन्वेतिpuruṣam anveti“follows a man”; “goes after a man”
तम् एव अहम् उपासे इतिtam eva aham upāse iti“him I revere”; “precisely him I worship”
तम् ह उवाच अजातशत्रुःtam ha uvāca ajātaśatruḥAjātaśatru said to him; that Ajātaśatru replied
मा मा एतस्मिन् समवादयिष्ठाःmā mā etasmin samavādayiṣṭhāḥ“do not draw me into talk of him”; “do not make me discourse of him”
असुः इतिasuḥ iti“the Life-force”; “asu, the breath of life”
वै अहम् एतम् उपासे इतिvai aham etam upāse iti“so do I revere him”; “thus I worship him”
सः यः ह एतम्saḥ yaḥ ha etamand he who him; the one who him
एवम् उपास्तेevam upāsteso reveres; worships thus
न उ एव स्वयम्na u eva svayamneither himself; and neither he himself
न अस्य प्रजा पुरा कालात्na asya prajā purā kālātnor his line before its time; nor his progeny prematurely
संमोहम् एतिsaṃmoham etifalls into stupor; sinks into insensibility
अनुवाद
Bālāki said: “The sound that follows a man — him I revere.” Ajātaśatru said to him: “Do not draw me into talk of him! I revere him as the Life-force.” And he who so reveres him — neither he himself nor his line falls into stupor before its time.
संस्करण
fd4148ec74a4 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 3:43:45 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Third in the inner series is “the sound that follows a man”: the hum everyone hears within, if he stops his ears, or the sound that accompanies the walker.
The correction names it asu — the old Vedic word for the life-force, that by which the living is alive. The link is plain: this sound does not come from outside; it sounds while the man lives, and falls silent with him.
The fruit is named with a weighty word: saṃmoha, “stupor, insensibility”. The reverer of the life-force — “neither he himself nor his line falls into stupor before its time”. The concern is not death, but not losing consciousness before one's hour — keeping oneself to the end.
This joins directly to the third adhyāya, where the dying man's insensibility was described in detail: “the mind has departed; he hears not, sees not, speaks not”. There it was a stage of the sinking into prāṇa; here it is prayed that this stage not come before its time.
And further: notice how closely sound and life are bound in this book. Speech and breath replace each other in the inner agnihotra; thunder is named the self of sound; and here life itself is recognised as the unceasing sound at a man's side.