उपनिषद् · Bhāvanā p36
॥
देवनागरी
समस्तविषयाणां मनसः स्थैर्येणानुसंधानं कुसुमम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
samastaviṣayāṇāṃ manasaḥ sthairyeṇānusaṃdhānaṃ kusumam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
समस्त-विषयाणांsamasta-viṣayāṇāṃof all objects
मनसः स्थैर्येण अनुसंधानंmanasaḥ sthairyeṇa anusaṃdhānaṃthe tracing, with steadiness of mind
कुसुमम्kusumamis the flower
अनुवाद
The tracing of all objects, with steadiness of mind, is the flower.
संस्करण
6ac51e015584 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The eleventh service — puṣpa, flowers: flowers are offered to the guest, and the image is decked with them. It is reinterpreted as anusandhāna, "tracing, searching out"; this word means attentive following of an object — not a scattered gaze, but tracing from beginning to end. The correspondence here, apparently, is this: as flowers are gathered one by one into a garland, so attention gathers objects and binds them.
It is worth saying plainly about flowers, however, for this is a case where the reinterpretation loses more than it gains. A flower is a useless thing. It cannot be eaten, it gives no shelter, it wilts by evening. Precisely for this reason it is given: the offering of a flower is a pure sign of affection, justified by nothing, and bringing no benefit at all.
Hence in every tradition of the world, flowers are offered to the one loved, not the one asked; and if they are asked for, it is with shame. The Bhāgavatam says that a leaf, a flower, a fruit, and water, offered with devotion, suffice for the Lord (the Gītā says the same, 9.26); and in this list, three of the four things are trifles. They are named to make it clear: the value of an offering is not in the thing, but in that it is given.
This "given" is what the reinterpretation fails to hold onto. Tracing objects with steadiness of mind is useful work; but a flower is good for nothing — and that is exactly why it is good.