Upanishads · Kena 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
श्रोत्रस्य श्रोत्रं मनसो मनो यद् ।
वाचो ह वाचं स उ प्राणस्य प्राणः ।
चक्षुषश् चक्षुर् अतिमुच्य धीराः ।
प्रेत्यास्माल् लोकाद् अमृता भवन्ति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
śrotrasya śrotraṃ manaso mano yad |
vāco ha vācaṃ sa u prāṇasya prāṇaḥ |
cakṣuṣaś cakṣur atimucya dhīrāḥ |
pretyāsmāl lokād amṛtā bhavanti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
श्रोत्रस्यśrotrasyaof the ear; for hearing
श्रोत्रम्śrotramthe ear; that by which one hears
मनसःmanasaḥof the mind; for thought
मनःmanaḥthe mind; the power of thinking
यत्yatwhich; that which
वाचःvācaḥof speech; for the word
हhaindeed; truly
वाचम्vācamspeech; the word
सःsaḥHe; that one
उuindeed; precisely
प्राणस्यprāṇasyaof the prāṇa; of the vital breath
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; life
चक्षुषःcakṣuṣaḥof the eye; for sight
चक्षुःcakṣuḥthe eye; sight
अतिमुच्यatimucyahaving freed themselves (ati-√muc — 'to be released beyond'); having let go of identification; having transcended
धीराःdhīrāḥthe wise; the steadfast (dhīra — 'unshaken in mind'); the self-possessed
प्रेत्यpretyahaving departed; after death
अस्मात्asmātfrom this; from here
लोकात्lokātworld; plane of being
अमृताःamṛtāḥimmortal; imperishable; partakers of immortality
भवन्तिbhavantibecome; are
Translation
He is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech of speech; He is also the breath of the breath and the eye of the eye. Having freed themselves [from identification with these], the wise, when they depart from this world, become immortal.
Version
7634c3dfdb9f · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:28:41 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The answer is given by a formula in the genitive: śrotrasya śrotram — "the ear of the ear", manaso manaḥ — "the mind of the mind". This is not a bigger organ standing behind the organ, but He by whom an organ is able to be an organ: it is not the ear that hears — the ear merely conducts; consciousness hears, and consciousness receives its light from the Lord, the inner witness of everything. The senses shine with a borrowed light, as the moon with the sun's; each time, the Upaniṣad's formula points from the instrument to the Owner.
atimucya — "having freed themselves" (ati-√muc — "to be released beyond"): the wise do not kill the senses; they cease to take them for themselves. So long as a being thinks "I am this mind and body", it dies with every dissolution of them; but once it knows itself to be the one who uses the mind, and above itself the One who grants the very power to use, it already partakes of the immortal here and now. amṛtā bhavanti — "they become immortal": they do not acquire a new property, they stop ascribing to themselves a death that is not theirs.
Note to whom this whole lesson is addressed: dhīrāḥ — "the steadfast in mind" (the same word stands in the Īśa Upaniṣad, mantra 10, of the teachers of the succession). The discrimination "I am not the instruments, and the Lord of the instruments is not I" is the beginning of all spiritual life: at a stroke it cuts off both materialism, which identifies the soul with the body, and pride, which identifies the soul with God.