Yagyavalkya Upanishad: Verse 17

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

श्मशानेषु दिगन्तेषु स एव ललनास्तनः ।

श्वभिरास्वाद्यते काले लघुपिण्ड इवान्धसः ॥१७॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

श्मशानेषु । दिक्-अन्तेषु । सः । एव । ललना-स्तनः ।

श्वभिः । आस्वाद्यते । काले । लघु-पिण्डः । इव । अन्धसः ॥१७॥

Recitation with translationYagyavalkya Upanishad 17

IAST Transliteration

śmaśāneṣu diganteṣu sa eva lalanā-stanaḥ |

śvabhir āsvādyate kāle laghupiṇḍa ivāndhasaḥ ||17||

Translation

शमशान घाट में, जगह के किनारे पर, वही औरत का बदन है। वक़्त के साथ, कुत्ते उसको चाटते हैं। जैसे कोई छोटा सा टुकड़ा हो, ऐसे ही रह जाता है।

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Academic Translation

In cremation grounds, at the ends of the directions, that very woman’s breast is, in time, tasted by dogs—like a small lump of food.

Verse Context

• Vairāgya (dispassion) through contemplation of impermanence (anityatā) and the body’s perishability
• Mahavakya: Indirect: supports renunciation and inner turning required for stable inquiry into ‘tat tvam asi’/‘aham brahmāsmi’; not a direct mahāvākya exposition.
• Yajur
• Śukla-Yajurveda (Vājasaneyī) Shakha
• Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (śloka)