Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 3.1.5
॥
Devanāgarī
सत्येन लभ्यः तपसा हि एषः आत्मा सम्यग्ज्ञानेन ब्रह्मचर्येण नित्यम् ।
अन्तःशरीरे ज्योतिर्मयः हि शुभ्रः यं पश्यन्ति यतयः क्षीणदोषाः ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
satyena labhyaḥ tapasā hi eṣaḥ ātmā samyagjñānena brahmacaryeṇa nityam |
antaḥśarīre jyotirmayaḥ hi śubhraḥ yaṃ paśyanti yatayaḥ kṣīṇadoṣāḥ ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्येनsatyenaby truth; by truthfulness
लभ्यःlabhyaḥis attainable (labhya); is to be won; is reachable
तपसाtapasāby asceticism; by spiritual heat
हिhiindeed; indeed
एषः आत्माeṣaḥ ātmāthis Ātman; this self
सम्यग्ज्ञानेनsamyagjñānenaby right knowledge (samyag-jñāna); by whole knowledge; by correct realisation
ब्रह्मचर्येणbrahmacaryeṇaby brahmacarya; by the discipline of chastity
नित्यम्nityamconstantly; always
अन्तःशरीरेantaḥśarīrewithin the body (antaḥ-śarīra); in the inner body; in the depth of the body
ज्योतिर्मयःjyotirmayaḥmade of light (jyotir-maya); woven of light; resplendent
हिhiindeed; indeed
शुभ्रःśubhraḥpure; radiant
यम्yamwhom; it
पश्यन्तिpaśyantithey see; they contemplate
यतयःyatayaḥthe ascetics (yati); the striving ones; the renounced
क्षीणदोषाःkṣīṇadoṣāḥwhose faults are exhausted (kṣīṇa-doṣa); with their vices spent; who have outlived their defilements
Translation
By truth is this Ātman attainable, by austerity, by right knowledge and by constant continence. Within the body He is full of light, resplendent; Him the ascetics see, whose faults are exhausted.
Version
5a1db0c51c6e · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Four means of attainment — and all four are purifications. satyena labhyaḥ — "attainable by truth": truthfulness comes first (and in the Muṇḍaka it is chief — the next verse will raise it into a law of the world); tapasā — by austerity: by the gathered heat of a life; samyag-jñānena — "by right knowledge": not by any knowledge but by one set straight by teacher and śruti (samyañc — "wholly directed"); brahmacaryeṇa nityam — "by constant continence": nityam — not by fasting on feast days but by the whole structure of a life.
antaḥ-śarīre jyotir-mayo hi śubhraḥ — "within the body, full of light, resplendent": He is there already; the four means do not fetch Him — they wash the window. yaṁ paśyanti yatayaḥ kṣīṇa-doṣāḥ — "Him the ascetics see, whose faults are exhausted": kṣīṇa-doṣa — "whose vices are spent", as fuel is spent: the passions are not suppressed (what is suppressed returns) but burnt out, lived through to the end.
The verse's formula is as plain as a rule: vision = presence (which is always there) + purity (which must be grown). The Upaniṣad offers no technique beyond this — and thereby cuts off the perennial temptation of "method without purity": no refinement of contemplation will replace truth, heat, knowledge and chastity; and with those, even a simple heart is enough.