यत्र निशितासिशतपातनमुत्पलताडनवत्सोढव्यमग्निना दाहो हिमसेचनमिवाङ्गारवर्तनं चन्दनचर्चेव निरवधिनाराचविकिरपातो निदाघविनोदनधारा- गृहशीकरवर्षणमिव स्वशिरच्छेदः सुखनिद्रेव मूकीकरणमाननमुद्रेव बाधिर्यं महानुपचय इवेदं नावहेलनया भवितव्यमेवं दृढवैराग्याद्बोधो भवति गुरुवाक्यसमुद्भूतस्वानुभूत्यादिशुद्धया यस्याभ्यासेन तेनात्मा सततं चावलोक्यते
yatra niśitāsiśatapātanamutpalatāḍanavatsoḍhavyamagninā dāho himasecanamivāṅgāravartanaṃ candanacarceva niravadhinārācavikirapāto nidāghavinodanadhārā- gṛhaśīkaravarṣaṇamiva svaśiracchedaḥ sukhanidreva mūkīkaraṇamānanamudreva bādhiryaṃ mahānupacaya ivedaṃ nāvahelanayā bhavitavyamevaṃ dṛḍhavairāgyādbodho bhavati guruvākyasamudbhūtasvānubhūtyādiśuddhayā yasyābhyāsena tenātmā satataṃ cāvalokyate
“Where the falling of a hundred sharpened swords must be endured like a blow with a lotus; a burn by fire — like a sprinkling of snow; rolling on coals — like an anointing with sandal; a ceaseless shower of arrows — like the spray of fountains in a summer hall; the severing of one's own head — like sweet sleep; dumbness — like a seal upon the lips, and deafness — like a great gain: this must not be treated carelessly. Thus, from firm dispassion, by the purity of one's own experience born of the teacher's word, comes awakening; and by practising it the Ātman is beheld unceasingly.”
5b1581543f55 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The longest verse of the chapter, and it is written with a single device: seven tortures, each equated to a delight.
Swords — like a blow with a lotus. Fire — like snow. Coals — like sandal ointment. Arrows — like fountain-spray in the heat. The severing of the head — like sleep. Dumbness — like a seal of silence. Deafness — like gain.
This must be read carefully, for at a cursory reading it comes out as a call to insensibility, and the speech is of something else.
First: the word soḍhavyam, “must be endured”, stands only with the first member and extends to all. It is not a promise that there will be no pain, but a demand that the pain not dislodge.
Second, and chief: the list ends with the words dṛḍha-vairāgyāt bodho bhavati — “from firm dispassion comes awakening”. That is, the whole list is a measure of firmness, not a program of torments. No one orders you under the swords; it is said what the foundation must be, that even swords should not dislodge it.
Third: the two last members — dumbness and deafness — betray a note of jest. To be struck dumb — like a seal of silence; to go deaf — a plain gain. The teacher smiles in the midst of a fearsome list.
And the last line repeats 4.5 word for word: by the three witnesses and by practice the Ātman is beheld unceasingly. The circle is closed: the list of horrors is set between two identical lines about calm daily work.