मघवन् मर्त्यं वा इदम् शरीरम् आत्तम् मृत्युना तत् अस्य अमृतस्य अशरीरस्य आत्मनः अधिष्ठानम् आत्तः वै सशरीरः प्रियाप्रियाभ्याम् न वै सशरीरस्य सतः प्रियाप्रिययोः अपहतिः अस्ति अशरीरम् वाव सन्तम् न प्रियाप्रिये स्पृशतः
maghavan martyaṃ vā idam śarīram āttam mṛtyunā tat asya amṛtasya aśarīrasya ātmanaḥ adhiṣṭhānam āttaḥ vai saśarīraḥ priyāpriyābhyām na vai saśarīrasya sataḥ priyāpriyayoḥ apahatiḥ asti aśarīram vāva santam na priyāpriye spṛśataḥ
"Maghavan! Mortal is this body, seized by death — and it is the dwelling of that immortal, bodiless ātman. One who is embodied is seized by the pleasant and the unpleasant: while he is in a body there is no escaping the pleasant and the unpleasant. But the bodiless the pleasant and the unpleasant do not touch.
1dbc5d2287ee · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:55:55 PM UTC
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The final instruction begins with a formula containing the whole anthropology of the Veda: martyaṁ vā idaṁ śarīram āttaṁ mṛtyunā tad asyāmṛtasyāśarīrasyātmano 'dhiṣṭhānam — "mortal is this body, seized by death, and it is the dwelling of the immortal, bodiless ātman". Neither spiritualism nor materialism: the body is neither the "I" nor rubbish but an adhiṣṭhāna, the dwelling and throne of the Immortal — the mortal house of one who lives for ever.
And the law of the two states: while identified with the body one is "seized by the pleasant and the unpleasant" (ātto vai saśarīraḥ priyāpriyābhyām): a swing that does not let go for a moment. But the "bodiless" — one who has come to know himself as not-the-body — the pair does not touch. This is no promise of insensibility but a freedom from the swing's dictation: the Gītā calls the same thing samatva, equanimity — "the wise man whom these [contacts] do not shake is fit for immortality" (BG 2.15). Not to abandon the house but to cease being its serf.