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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.20
॥
Devanāgarī
नैष्कर्म्येण न तस्यार्थस्तस्यार्थोऽस्ति न कर्मभिः । न ससाधनजाप्याभ्यां यस्य निर्वासनं मनः
Transliteration (IAST)
naiṣkarmyeṇa na tasyārthastasyārtho'sti na karmabhiḥ | na sasādhanajāpyābhyāṃ yasya nirvāsanaṃ manaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नैष्कर्म्येण न तस्य अर्थःnaiṣkarmyeṇa na tasya arthaḥby actionlessness there is no need for him
तस्य अर्थः अस्ति न कर्मभिःtasya arthaḥ asti na karmabhiḥnor for him is there need by deeds
न स-साधन-जाप्याभ्यांna sa-sādhana-jāpyābhyāṃnor by means or by repetitions
यस्य निर्वासनं मनःyasya nirvāsanaṃ manaḥfor one whose mind is without habit
Translation
«For one whose mind is without habit, there is no need for him — neither by actionlessness, nor by deeds, nor by means, nor by repetitions».
Version
bdd2db99e284 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting that here both sides are rejected at once: both action and inaction. This construction is basic in the Gītā, stated thus: na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣkarmyaṃ puruṣo'śnute, «not by refraining from deeds does a person reach actionlessness» (3.4). That is, actionlessness is not attained by ceasing to act; and hence abstention is not the path.
Add the word jāpya, «repetitions», standing among the things rejected here. This is worth noting, for it contradicts the first chapter. There (1.14, 1.18) it was promised that a single verse read with devotion gives union, and that worship of the name gives sālokya to one living evilly.
Here it is said that for the one who has arrived, repetitions are not needed. There is, however, no contradiction if read precisely: it does not say «repetitions are useless», but «for one whose mind is without habit, they are not needed». That is, they are set aside for the one who has arrived, not for the one on the way.
The Vaishnava side does not agree with this either, and it is worth saying in what. Its position is this: repetition is not a means to be dropped upon attainment; it is the very communion, and hence it does not cease. Its argument was cited at Varāha (4.8): even ātmārāma, for whom nothing more is needed, renders service — kurvanty ahaitukīṃ bhaktim; and the word ahaitukī, «causeless», means exactly this: they act for no further reason.