उपनिषद् · Mahā 3.37
॥
देवनागरी
क्वचिद्वा विद्यते यैषा संसारे सुखभावना आयुः स्तम्बमिवासाद्य कालस्तामपि कृन्तति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
kvacidvā vidyate yaiṣā saṃsāre sukhabhāvanā āyuḥ stambamivāsādya kālastāmapi kṛntati
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
क्वचित् वा विद्यते या एषाkvacit vā vidyate yā eṣāif somewhere indeed there is this; should there be found anywhere such
संसारे सुख-भावनाsaṃsāre sukha-bhāvanāthought of happiness in the round; a notion of delight in the whirl
आयुः स्तम्बम् इव आसाद्यāyuḥ stambam iva āsādyaapproaching life as a stalk; having stolen up to the life-span as to a straw
कालः ताम् अपि कृन्ततिkālaḥ tām api kṛntatitime cuts even it down; time mows even that away
अनुवाद
“If somewhere in the round there is found such a thought of happiness, time, approaching life as a reaper a stalk, cuts even it down.”
संस्करण
ef9f4963509b · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A concession made grudgingly, and at once taken back.
Suppose happiness in the round does occur somewhere. Nidāgha does not argue: kvacid vā, “somewhere, perhaps”.
But it too is cut down — because its foundation is cut down.
The image is agricultural: time approaches life as a reaper a stalk. The word stamba means “a tuft of grass, a straw at the root”, and kṛntati — “cuts”, the same verb by which in 3.22 the mouse gnawed through the string.
The sense of the argument is this: there is no need to prove there are no joys in the world. It is enough that the joys stand upon the life-span, and the life-span is being cut.
This is more honest than the usual sermon on vanity. Nidāgha does not deny pleasures — he points to their prop.