उपनिषद् · Mahā 4.22
॥
देवनागरी
शरीरमस्थिमांसं च त्यक्त्वा रक्ताद्यशोभनम् भूतमुक्तावलीतन्तुं चिन्मात्रमवलोकयेत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
śarīramasthimāṃsaṃ ca tyaktvā raktādyaśobhanam bhūtamuktāvalītantuṃ cinmātramavalokayet
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
शरीरम् अस्थि-मांसम् चśarīram asthi-māṃsam cathe body, its bones and flesh; the frame, the bones and the muscles
त्यक्त्वा रक्त-आदि अशोभनम्tyaktvā rakta-ādi aśobhanamleaving aside, with blood and the other unsightly things; having set aside the blood and the rest that is uncomely
भूत-मुक्ता-आवली-तन्तुम्bhūta-muktā-āvalī-tantumthe thread in the pearl-string of beings; the cord in the pearl necklace of creatures
चिन्-मात्रम् अवलोकयेत्cin-mātram avalokayetlet him behold consciousness alone; let him discern pure awareness only
अनुवाद
“Leaving aside the body — bones, flesh, blood and the rest that is unsightly — let him behold pure consciousness, the thread in the pearl-string of beings.”
संस्करण
7091c11217bb · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The image that redeems the whole third chapter.
There the body was taken apart into bones and blood, and the matter ended there: no loveliness. Here the same dissection is done not for the sake of emptying, but in order to see what remains.
What remains is a thread: bhūta-muktā-āvalī-tantu — “the thread in the necklace of pearl-beings”.
The pearls are the beings, each separate, of different size and kind. The thread is consciousness, passing through them all.
This image is applied in the Bhagavad-gītā to the Supreme: “on Me all is strung, like pearls on a thread”. The coincidence is not accidental; here the book comes right up to that with which it itself began.
Note also the difference from Advaita in the image itself. The thread does not abolish the pearls: they do not turn into the thread and do not vanish. Their unity is in all being on one thread.