उपनिषद् · Mahā 3.35
॥
देवनागरी
दासाः पुत्राः स्त्रियश्चैव बान्धवाः सुहृदस्तथा हसन्त्युन्मत्तकमिव नरं वार्धककम्पितम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
dāsāḥ putrāḥ striyaścaiva bāndhavāḥ suhṛdastathā hasantyunmattakamiva naraṃ vārdhakakampitam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
दासाः पुत्राः स्त्रियः च एवdāsāḥ putrāḥ striyaḥ ca evaservants, sons and wives; the servantry, sons and women
बान्धवाः सुहृदः तथाbāndhavāḥ suhṛdaḥ tathākinsmen and friends as well; relations and companions too
हसन्ति उन्मत्तकम् इवhasanti unmattakam ivalaugh as at a madman; make sport as of a lunatic
नरम् वार्धक-कम्पितम्naram vārdhaka-kampitamat the man shaking with old age; at the man trembling with decrepitude
अनुवाद
“Servants, sons and wives, kinsmen and friends laugh at the man shaking with old age, as at a madman.”
संस्करण
86c554e95702 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The third age is old age, and of it is said what is usually passed over in silence.
Not of infirmity. Of laughter.
The list of the laughers is built from the distant to the near: servants, children, wives, kin, friends. That is, everyone — and one's own first of all.
The comparison unmattaka, “as at a madman”, renders exactly the old man's position: he is heard with half an ear, spoken of in his presence in the third person, his decisions are gone around.
Nidāgha does not complain of human cruelty. He shows how that ends for which a man toiled all his life: house, children, substance, standing. It ends with being laughed at in that very house.
Note that the bitterness of this verse is verifiable without any philosophy. It is enough to look around.