LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Saubhāgyalakṣmī 2.19
॥
Devanāgarī
यत्रयत्र मनो याति तत्रतत्र परं पदम् । तत्रतत्र परं ब्रह्म सर्वत्र समवस्थितम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yatrayatra mano yāti tatratatra paraṃ padam | tatratatra paraṃ brahma sarvatra samavasthitam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्र यत्र मनः यातिyatra yatra manaḥ yātiwherever the mind goes
तत्र तत्र परं पदम्tatra tatra paraṃ padamthere and there is the supreme place
तत्र तत्र परं ब्रह्मtatra tatra paraṃ brahmathere and there is the supreme brahman
सर्वत्र समवस्थितम्sarvatra samavasthitameverywhere equally present
Translation
"Wherever the mind goes — there is the supreme place; there is the supreme brahman, everywhere equally present."
Version
0f4ec9509cb6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second chapter ends with a verse that is among the most cited in this literature; it is worth examining, for it is read two ways. The first reading: it does not matter what one thinks of, for everywhere it is the same. This reading is false, and it is worth saying why.
If it does not matter what one thinks of, then the whole book, prescribing contemplation of a form, repetition of syllables, and closing of gates, turns out superfluous; and the teaching cancels itself. The second reading, and it is the true one: wherever the mind has gone, there He meets it; that is, escape from the object is impossible, for the object is everywhere. Read this way, the verse is not permission to wander but a description of what happens to a person whose heart is already occupied: he cannot be distracted, for every distraction leads to the same thing.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds the second and voices it through its own usual verse: sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ (Gītā 6.29), discussed when reading the twelfth verse. Let us add what this verse explains in practice and is worth keeping. A person complaining that his mind wanders is usually advised to restrain it; and this advice, as we noted when reading the Varāha (2.78), is rarely achievable.
This verse offers something else: do not restrain, but follow; wherever the mind has gone, find Him there. And this, to my mind, is the only advice about a wandering mind that is in fact achievable.