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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.55
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रभाशून्यं मनःशून्यं बुद्धिशून्यं चिदात्मकम् । अतद्व्यावृत्तिरूपोऽसौ समाधिर्मुनिभावितः
Transliteration (IAST)
prabhāśūnyaṃ manaḥśūnyaṃ buddhiśūnyaṃ cidātmakam | atadvyāvṛttirūpo'sau samādhirmunibhāvitaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रभा-शून्यं मनः-शून्यंprabhā-śūnyaṃ manaḥ-śūnyaṃvoid of light, void of mind
बुद्धि-शून्यं चित्-आत्मकम्buddhi-śūnyaṃ cit-ātmakamvoid of intellect, of the nature of consciousness
अ-तत्-व्यावृत्ति-रूपः असौa-tat-vyāvṛtti-rūpaḥ asauhaving the form of turning away from that which is not it
समाधिः मुनि-भावितःsamādhiḥ muni-bhāvitaḥsamādhi, imagined by sages
Translation
«Void of light, void of mind, void of intellect, of the nature of consciousness alone, having the form of turning away from that which is not it — this is samādhi as imagined by sages».
Version
5225d0d3b91d · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:50:43 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse repeats almost word for word the one standing in Saubhāgyalakṣmī (2.17), examined there; let only what is added here, and what settles the matter, be repeated. Added is: atad-vyāvṛtti-rūpo'sau, «it has the form of turning away from that which is not it». That is, the book itself says that this definition is negative: it is obtained by neti neti, by exclusion.
This detail, I think, is the best in this verse, and here is why. It means that «void of light, of mind, and of intellect» is not a description of a state, but a way of pointing to it; and hence to read it literally is to mistake the pointing finger for the thing. It was noted at Varāha (4.37) that atad-vyāvṛtti and vidhi-mukha are two devices — negative and positive — and that the Vaishnava side holds the second.
Let its argument be repeated briefly: negation does not point; it outlines an empty place, but does not say what is in it. Add that the next verse will say exactly the opposite: it will call samādhi sākṣād-vidhi-mukha, «directly, by the way of prescription», and describe it by fullness, not by lack. That is, the book sets two definitions side by side, and calls the second pāramārthika, «by the highest reckoning».