उपनिषद् · Mahā 5.115
॥
देवनागरी
इमां कथमहं हन्मीत्येषा तेऽस्तु विचारणा अस्तं गतायां क्षीणायामस्यां ज्ञास्यसि तत्पदम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
imāṃ kathamahaṃ hanmītyeṣā te'stu vicāraṇā astaṃ gatāyāṃ kṣīṇāyāmasyāṃ jñāsyasi tatpadam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
इमाम् कथम् अहम् हन्मिimām katham aham hanmi“how shall I slay her”; “in what way am I to strike her down”
इति एषा ते अस्तु विचारणाiti eṣā te astu vicāraṇālet this be thy pondering; of this kind let thine inquiry be
अस्तम् गतायाम् क्षीणायाम्astam gatāyām kṣīṇāyāmwhen she has set and wasted away; upon her sinking and exhaustion
अस्याम् ज्ञास्यसि तत् पदम्asyām jñāsyasi tat padamthen shalt thou know that state; then wilt thou understand the said station
अनुवाद
“‘How shall I slay her?’ — let thy pondering be such; when she has set and wasted away, then shalt thou know that state.”
संस्करण
60c303a6f927 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here is the substitution of questions for which the previous verse was made.
Not “whence did she come”, but “how shall I slay her”.
The difference between these two questions is the difference between erudition and work.
Note that the second question too is called vicāraṇā — the same word as the second stage of knowledge (5.24). That is, pondering is not abolished; it has been given a direction.
This is the whole book's general rule, and perhaps its best. Nowhere does it forbid thinking; each time it turns thought from the origin of things to what is to be done with them.
Astaṃ gatāyām — “when she has set”, as the sun sets. Kṣīṇāyām — “wasted away”.
And the promise: tadā jñāsyasi — “then shalt thou know”. Not before.