Upanishads · Kaṭha 6.10
॥
Devanāgarī
यदा पञ्चावतिष्ठन्ते ज्ञानानि मनसा सह ।
बुद्धिश् च न विचेष्टति ताम् आहुः परमां गतिम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yadā pañcāvatiṣṭhante jñānāni manasā saha /
buddhiś ca na viceṣṭati tām āhuḥ paramāṃ gatim
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यदाyadāwhen; at the moment when
पञ्चpañcafive; the five
अवतिष्ठन्तेavatiṣṭhantecome to rest, settle (ava-√sthā); stand still; grow quiet
ज्ञानानिjñānānithe knowings (jñāna — here: the senses as knowers); the organs of knowledge; the five knowings
मनसाmanasāwith the mind; together with the mind
सहsahatogether; conjointly
बुद्धिःbuddhiḥthe intellect; buddhi
चcaand; as well as
नnanot; no
विचेष्टतिviceṣṭatistirs (vi-√ceṣṭ — 'to move'); wavers; bustles
ताम्tāmthis; it
आहुःāhuḥthey call; they say
परमाम्paramāmthe supreme; the transcendent
गतिम्gatimthe way and the goal (gati); the course; the refuge
Translation
When the five knowings come to rest together with the mind, and the intellect does not stir — that they call the supreme way.
Version
19c448aa13ce · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
yadā pañcāvatiṣṭhante jñānāni manasā saha — "when the five knowings (the five senses as knowers) settle together with the mind": avatiṣṭhante — "they stand, they settle", as troubled water settles; buddhiś ca na viceṣṭati — "and the intellect does not stir": even the subtlest organ, the discriminating buddhi, ceases its rippling.
tām āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim — "that they call the supreme way [and goal]": gati is both the road and the arrival. The complete stillness of all the instruments is neither a swoon nor a void: the instruments fall silent because the Master has appeared; so an orchestra's tuning falls silent at the conductor's raised hand. Everything preceding has said with what this silence is full: in it is the light that shines without luminaries (101), the Puruṣa without a mark (109), apprehended by the heart (110). The silence of the Upaniṣads is an ultimate populousness, not a vacuum.
The verb's force matters: the senses and the mind are not crushed — they have "settled": rest comes not from violence upon the instruments but from their having at last nothing to search for: one who has found need make no noise. The next verse will give this state the name by which all the world knows it: yoga.