उपनिषद् · Garbha 5
॥
देवनागरी
पूर्वयोनिसहस्राणि दृष्ट्वा चैव ततो मया आहारा विविधा भुक्ताः पीता नानाविधाः स्तनाः जातश् चैव मृतश् चैव जन्म चैव पुनः पुनः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
pūrvayonisahasrāṇi dṛṣṭvā caiva tato mayā āhārā vividhā bhuktāḥ pītā nānāvidhāḥ stanāḥ jātaś caiva mṛtaś caiva janma caiva punaḥ punaḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
पूर्वयोनिसहस्राणि दृष्ट्वाpūrvayonisahasrāṇi dṛṣṭvāhaving seen thousands of former wombs; having beheld thousands of past wombs
च एव ततः मयाca eva tataḥ mayāand so by me; and so I
आहाराः विविधाः भुक्ताःāhārāḥ vividhāḥ bhuktāḥdivers foods have been eaten; have tasted all manner of victuals
पीताः नानाविधाः स्तनाःpītāḥ nānāvidhāḥ stanāḥall kinds of breasts drunk; have drunk at many and various breasts
जातः च एवjātaḥ ca evaand I was born; and was born
मृतः च एवmṛtaḥ ca evaand I died; and died
जन्म च एव पुनः पुनःjanma ca eva punaḥ punaḥand birth again and again; and birth once more and once more
अनुवाद
“Having seen thousands of former wombs, I have eaten divers foods, drunk at all kinds of breasts; and I was born, and I died, and was born again and again...”
संस्करण
30cca07a80c8 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 2:57:05 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here begins the speech of the one in the womb, and it is one of the most astonishing passages in all śruti.
The embryo speaks. Not a sage, not a god, not a disciple — one who is not yet born and has already remembered everything.
The first things he names are not suffering and not fear, but simple things: the food he ate and the breasts he sucked.
“Drunk at all kinds of breasts”, pītā nānāvidhāḥ stanāḥ. Thousands of mothers, all forgotten; and now he has remembered them all at once.
Here lies the horror of it, and it is stronger than any description of hell. Not that it hurt, but that all of it has already been — and been beyond counting.
Then three words set side by side: jātaś caiva mṛtaś caiva janma caiva punaḥ punaḥ — “and I was born, and I died, and birth again and again”.
The order is deliberately circular: birth, death, birth again. The speech breaks off where it began.
The next five verses will seek a way out, and in each it will be named differently.