उपनिषद् · Mahā 3.43
॥
देवनागरी
केशकज्जलधारिण्यो दुःस्पर्शा लोचनप्रियाः दुष्कृताग्निशिखा नार्यो दहन्ति तृणवन्नरम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
keśakajjaladhāriṇyo duḥsparśā locanapriyāḥ duṣkṛtāgniśikhā nāryo dahanti tṛṇavannaram
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
केश-कज्जल-धारिण्यःkeśa-kajjala-dhāriṇyaḥwearing hair and kohl; adorned with tresses and black pigment
दुःस्पर्शाः लोचन-प्रियाःduḥsparśāḥ locana-priyāḥgrievous to touch, dear to the eye; ruinous at a touch, delightful to the gaze
दुष्कृत-अग्नि-शिखाः नार्यःduṣkṛta-agni-śikhāḥ nāryaḥwomen — tongues of the fire of misdeeds; women are the flame-tips of sin
दहन्ति तृणवत् नरम्dahanti tṛṇavat naramburn a man like straw; scorch a man as a blade of grass
अनुवाद
“Adorned with hair and kohl, dear to the eye and grievous to the touch, women are tongues of the fire of misdeeds: they burn a man like straw.”
संस्करण
d623788e8e14 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The image of fire, and it is analysed piece by piece with great precision.
Black hair and black kohl — the colour of soot; beauty is named through what accompanies flame.
Then — locana-priyāḥ duḥsparśāḥ: “dear to the eye, ruinous to the touch”. This is precisely fire's property: pleasant to look at, forbidden to touch.
The observation is true, but it is true not of women — of craving. The fire here is duṣkṛta-agni, “the flame of misdeeds”; it is not one person that burns another, but that which catches fire within.
Worth noting too that the image is double-edged and in Sanskrit letters is applied to both sexes without distinction; here it is turned in one direction only because the speaker is a youth.
For the reader the most useful thing to carry away is the observation about the nature of the heat itself: the trouble is not in what you look at, but in that looking leads you on to grasping.