Upanishads · Māṇḍūkya 5
॥
Devanāgarī
यत्र सुप्तो न कञ्चन कामं कामयते न कञ्चन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत् सुषुप्तम् ।
सुषुप्तस्थान एकीभूतः प्रज्ञानघन एवानन्दमयो ह्य् आनन्दभुक् चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञः तृतीयः पादः
Transliteration (IAST)
yatra supto na kañcana kāmaṃ kāmayate na kañcana svapnaṃ paśyati tat suṣuptam |
suṣuptasthāna ekībhūtaḥ prajñānaghana evānandamayo hy ānandabhuk cetomukhaḥ prājñaḥ tṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्रyatrawhere; in which state
सुप्तःsuptaḥthe sleeper; one who has fallen asleep
नnanot; no
कञ्चनkañcanaany; whatever
कामम्kāmamdesire; object of desire
कामयतेkāmayatedesires; longs for
नnanot; no
कञ्चनkañcanaany; whatever
स्वप्नम्svapnamdream; vision in sleep
पश्यतिpaśyatisees; beholds
तत्tatthat; this
सुषुप्तम्suṣuptamdeep sleep (su-ṣupta — 'good sleep'); dreamless sleep; suṣupti
सुषुप्तस्थानःsuṣuptasthānaḥhaving deep sleep for his sphere; abiding in suṣupti
एकीभूतःekībhūtaḥbecome one (ekī-bhūta); gathered into unity; fused into a single whole
प्रज्ञानघनःprajñānaghanaḥa mass of pure cognition (prajñāna-ghana — 'a solid mass of consciousness'); unbroken consciousness; a monolith of knowing
एवevaprecisely; truly
आनन्दमयःānandamayaḥconsisting of bliss (ānanda-maya); woven of bliss; full of bliss
हिhiindeed; verily
आनन्दभुक्ānandabhukenjoying bliss (ānanda-bhuj); eater of bliss; delighting in bliss
चेतोमुखःcetomukhaḥwhose mouth is consciousness (cetas-mukha — the gateway to experience); with consciousness for an entrance; whose door is cit
प्राज्ञःprājñaḥPrājña ('the Knowing one' — the consciousness of deep sleep); the Wise; the lord of deep sleep
तृतीयःtṛtīyaḥthe third; third
पादःpādaḥquarter; foot
Translation
Where the sleeper desires no desire and sees no dream — that is deep sleep. The third quarter is Prājña: his sphere is deep sleep; become one, a solid mass of cognition, consisting of bliss, enjoying bliss, whose mouth is consciousness.
Version
3bfa68f769bc · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:21:18 PM UTC
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The third pāda — night without images. It is defined by two negations: na kañcana kāmaṁ kāmayate — "he desires no desire"; na kañcana svapnaṁ paśyati — "he sees no dream": desire and image, the engines of the first two states, are switched off. What remains? Not nothing: ekī-bhūtaḥ — "become one": all dispersion is gathered into a single whole; prajñāna-ghanaḥ — "a mass of cognition": consciousness without objects, unbroken, like a sea without waves; ānandamayaḥ — "consisting of bliss", ānanda-bhuk — "enjoying bliss": deep sleep is sweet — which is why a man says in the morning "I slept blissfully", remembering nothing: he enjoyed without anything enjoyed.
ceto-mukhaḥ — "whose mouth is consciousness": the prājña is a gateway — through him consciousness goes down into the depth and returns to dreams and waking; his name is prājñaḥ, "the Knowing" — paradoxically, in the state without knowledge of objects he stands nearest to pure Knowledge.
Every night everyone is here — at the very threshold of the Ground (Praśna 4.4: the udāna "leads the sleeper day by day to Brahman") — and returns with nothing: the darkness of forgetting hides the meeting. Deep sleep is a mercy without memory: the peace of the Ground is tasted, the Face is not seen. It is in order that the threshold might become a door, and the darkness light, that the Māṇḍūkya was spoken: the Fourth lies not on the far side of sleep but on the far side of forgetting.