उपनिषद् · Mahā 5.184
॥
देवनागरी
छित्त्वा स्वात्मनि तिष्ठ त्वं किमेतावति दुष्करम् यथैवेदं नभः शून्यं जगच्छून्यं तथैव हि
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
chittvā svātmani tiṣṭha tvaṃ kimetāvati duṣkaram yathaivedaṃ nabhaḥ śūnyaṃ jagacchūnyaṃ tathaiva hi
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
छित्त्वा स्व-आत्मनि तिष्ठ त्वम्chittvā sva-ātmani tiṣṭha tvamhaving cut it, abide in thyself; having severed it, stay in thine own self
किम् एतावति दुष्करम्kim etāvati duṣkaramwhat is so hard in that; what indeed is difficult in this much
यथा एव इदम् नभः शून्यम्yathā eva idam nabhaḥ śūnyamas this sky is empty; just as these heavens are void
जगत् शून्यम् तथा एव हिjagat śūnyam tathā eva hiso likewise is the world empty; in the same way the world too is void
अनुवाद
“…having cut it, abide in thyself. What is so hard in that? As this sky is empty, so likewise is the world empty.”
संस्करण
c441af8c4f93 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The teacher's question deserves remembering: kim etāvati duṣkaram — “what is so hard in that?”
After five chapters of stages, vāsanās, gatekeepers and ladders — “what is so hard?”.
This is no mockery. It is a pointing out that all the difficulty lies in the preparations, while the deed itself is simple: stop designing and stand in yourself.
Recall 4.88: a thing wholly in your power and wholly to your good proves impracticable — and the teacher then railed.
Here he does not rail; he marvels.
The second half: “as the sky is empty, so is the world empty”.
Note that the sky is not nothing: it is the expanse in which everything is placed. Its emptiness is not absence but capacity.
In that sense the world too is empty.