यदा चर्मवद् आकाशं वेष्टयिष्यन्ति मानवाः ।
तदा देवम् अविज्ञाय दुःखस्यान्तो भविष्यति ॥
yadā carmavad ākāśaṁ veṣṭayiṣyanti mānavāḥ |
tadā devam avijñāya duḥkhasyānto bhaviṣyati ||
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: 6.20)
“When human beings are able to roll up the sky like leather, then [their] suffering will come to an end without understanding Deva.”
Commentary
The idea of rolling up the sky like a sheet of leather is given as an illustration of impossibility. A modern way of making the point would be: as it is impossible for anyone to ever roll up the sky like a piece of paper, so it is impossible for anyone’s suffering to ever end without one coming to understand the Para-tattva.