उपनिषद् · Mahā 5.133
॥
देवनागरी
इअमं संसारमखिलमाशापाशविधायकम् दधदन्तःफलैर्हीनं वटधाना वटं यथा
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
iamaṃ saṃsāramakhilamāśāpāśavidhāyakam dadhadantaḥphalairhīnaṃ vaṭadhānā vaṭaṃ yathā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
इमम् संसारम् अखिलम्imam saṃsāram akhilamthis entire round; the whole of this revolving
आशा-पाश-विधायकम्āśā-pāśa-vidhāyakamthe framer of the noose of hopes; the deviser of the lasso of expectations
दधत् अन्तः फलैः हीनम्dadhat antaḥ phalaiḥ hīnamit bears within, itself devoid of fruits; it carries inside, itself destitute of fruit
वट-धाना वटम् यथाvaṭa-dhānā vaṭam yathāas the banyan seed bears the banyan; just as the banyan grain bears the banyan tree
अनुवाद
“It bears within itself this entire round, the framer of the noose of hopes, being itself devoid of fruits — as the banyan seed bears the banyan.”
संस्करण
8845ebd38502 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The image of the banyan seed is from the Chāndogya, where Uddālaka bids his son split the fruit, then the seed, and asks what he sees; the son answers: nothing. And the father says: out of that very subtlety the huge banyan has grown.
Here the same image is applied to the mind: it carries the whole round within itself, being itself phalair hīnam — “devoid of fruits”, that is, having nothing manifest inside.
Note that the banyan is a singular tree: it sends down aerial roots, and one tree spreads into a whole grove.
The Bhagavad-gītā in its fifteenth chapter also begins with the banyan, and there it is ordered felled with the weapon of non-attachment.
Āśā-pāśa — “the noose of hopes”; the assonance is deliberate: āśā and pāśa.