उपनिषद् · Mahā 6.24
॥
देवनागरी
सतोऽसत्ता स्थिता मूर्ध्नि रम्याणां मूर्ध्न्यरम्यता सुखानां मूर्ध्निदुःखानि किमेकं संश्रयाम्यहम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
sato'sattā sthitā mūrdhni ramyāṇāṃ mūrdhnyaramyatā sukhānāṃ mūrdhniduḥkhāni kimekaṃ saṃśrayāmyaham
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सतः असत्ता स्थिता मूर्ध्निsataḥ asattā sthitā mūrdhniover the existent stands non-being at its head; above the existent, non-existence is set at its crown
रम्याणाम् मूर्ध्नि अरम्यताramyāṇām mūrdhni aramyatāover the lovely, at its head, unloveliness; above the delightful, at its crown, unsightliness
सुखानाम् मूर्ध्नि दुःखानिsukhānām mūrdhni duḥkhāniover the joys, at their head, the sorrows; above the pleasures, at their crown, the pains
किम् एकम् संश्रयामि अहम्kim ekam saṃśrayāmi ahamto what one thing shall I resort; to what single thing am I to flee for refuge
अनुवाद
“At the head of the existent stands non-being, at the head of the lovely unloveliness, at the head of joys the sorrows. To what one thing shall I resort?”
संस्करण
9867ad6f4de8 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The image mūrdhni — “at the head, at the pillow” — as of a sick man over whom the nurse stands. Or like an inscription over a door.
Over every being stands its non-being; over every beauty its unsightliness; over every joy its grief.
Not “after”, but precisely “over”: they attend them without leaving.
Note the question at the end: kim ekaṃ saṃśrayāmy aham — “to what one thing shall I resort?”
The verb saṃśri — “to resort, to take refuge”. The same root as āśraya.
The question breaks out of itself, and it is exactly the Vaiṣṇava one: not “what am I to understand”, but “to what am I to flee”.
A direct answer the book does not give here; but by name it has already given its answer — in the first adhyāya, where “Nārāyaṇa alone was”.