तद् वा अस्य एतद् अतिच्छन्दः अपहतपाप्मा अभयं रूपम् तद् यथा प्रियया स्त्रिया संपरिष्वक्तः न बाह्यं किं चन वेद न अन्तरम् एवम् एव अयं पुरुषः प्राज्ञेन आत्मना संपरिष्वक्तः न बाह्यं किं चन वेद न अन्तरम् तद् वा अस्य एतद् आप्तकामम् आत्मकामम् अकामं रूपम् शोकान्तरम्
tad vā asya etad aticchandaḥ apahatapāpmā abhayaṃ rūpam tad yathā priyayā striyā saṃpariṣvaktaḥ na bāhyaṃ kiṃ cana veda na antaram evam eva ayaṃ puruṣaḥ prājñena ātmanā saṃpariṣvaktaḥ na bāhyaṃ kiṃ cana veda na antaram tad vā asya etad āptakāmam ātmakāmam akāmaṃ rūpam śokāntaram
And this is his form beyond desire, free from evil, fearless. As a man embraced by the woman he loves knows nothing outside or within, so this person, embraced by the ātman-of-knowledge, knows nothing outside or within. This is his form in which desire is attained, in which desire is the ātman itself; he is without desire, beyond sorrow.
57ca3e5a7c07 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:12:39 AM UTC
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The summit of the whole conversation, and one of the most daring verses of the Veda: deep sleep is described as an embrace: "as a man embraced by the woman he loves knows nothing outside or within, so the person, embraced by prājñenātmanā — the ātman-of-knowledge". The nightly dreamless repose is not a switching-off but an embrace: the soul lies in the arms of the Higher Self, and therefore "knows nothing" — as one knows nothing in perfect love, where there is nowhere and no reason to look outward.
The Upaniṣad chose the image of a wedding night for the ultimate closeness — and the Vedānta of love takes the choice in earnest: the relation of the jīva to the Lord, at its depth, is neither an inspection nor a service but an embrace; the oblivion of deep sleep is an unconscious rehearsal of what bhakti wants to live through in memory and love. And three seals of the state: āpta-kāmam — desire attained; ātma-kāmam — desire is the ātman itself (not the absence of desire but its fulfilment in Him!); aśokam — beyond sorrow.
Note the exactness: not "having destroyed desire" but "desire is the ātman": the thirst is not killed — it has found the One it was always seeking (all the "dear" things are dear for His sake — 2.4.5). Free is not the one who wants nothing, but the one whose wanting has come home.