Niralamba Upanishad: Verse 17

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

स्वर्ग इति च सत्संसर्गः स्वर्गः । नरक इति च असत्संसारविषयजनसंसर्ग एव नरकः ॥१७॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

स्वर्गः इति च । सत्-संसर्गः । स्वर्गः । नरकः इति च । असत्-संसार-विषय-जन-संसर्गः । एव । नरकः ॥१७॥

Recitation with translationNiralamba Upanishad 17

IAST Transliteration

svarga iti ca sat-saṃsargaḥ svargaḥ | naraka iti ca asat-saṃsāra-viṣaya-jana-saṃsarga eva narakaḥ ||17||

Translation

स्वर्ग का मतलब है अच्छे लोगों के साथ रहना। नरक का मतलब है बुरी कंपनी में पड़ना। जो लोग दुनिया के चक्कर में फंसे हैं, उनके साथ रहना ही नरक है।

Ask anything about this verse...Ask

Academic Translation

And ‘heaven’ is association with the good (sat); ‘hell’ is indeed association with the unreal/ignoble—people bound to saṃsāra and sense-objects.

Word by Word

• svargaḥ: heaven
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• iti: thus; ‘as’
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उद्धरण/इति-निर्देश)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• sat-saṃsargaḥ: association with the good
• Type: Noun
• Root: sat-saṃsarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• svargaḥ: heaven
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• narakaḥ: hell
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• iti: thus; ‘as’
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उद्धरण/इति-निर्देश)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• asat-saṃsāra-viṣaya-jana-saṃsargaḥ: association with people attached to unreal worldly objects
• Type: Noun
• Root: asat-saṃsāra-viṣaya-jana-saṃsarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• eva: indeed; alone
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अवधारण)

• narakaḥ: hell
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Sandhi Notes

• Compounds: sat-saṃsargaḥ (sat + saṃsargaḥ)
• Long compound asat-saṃsāra-viṣaya-jana-saṃsargaḥ analyzed as a tatpuruṣa chain: asat + saṃsāra + viṣaya + jana + saṃsargaḥ

Verse Context

• Saṅga (association) as a determinant of saṃsāra vs. sādhana; sat/ asat viveka
• Mahavakya: Indirectly supports ‘aham brahmāsmi’/‘tat tvam asi’ by prescribing sat-saṅga as a preparatory condition (sādhana-catuṣṭaya) for recognizing identity with Brahman; frames ‘heaven/hell’ ethically-psychologically rather than as ultimate realities.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose