LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Muktikā 2.56
॥
Devanāgarī
ऊर्ध्वपूर्णमधःपूर्णं मध्यपूर्णं शिवात्मकम् । साक्षाद्विधिमुखो ह्येष समाधिः पारमार्थिकः
Transliteration (IAST)
ūrdhvapūrṇamadhaḥpūrṇaṃ madhyapūrṇaṃ śivātmakam | sākṣādvidhimukho hyeṣa samādhiḥ pāramārthikaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ऊर्ध्व-पूर्णम् अधः-पूर्णंūrdhva-pūrṇam adhaḥ-pūrṇaṃfull above, full below
मध्य-पूर्णं शिव-आत्मकम्madhya-pūrṇaṃ śiva-ātmakamfull in the middle, of the nature of the auspicious
साक्षात् विधि-मुखः हि एषःsākṣāt vidhi-mukhaḥ hi eṣaḥdirectly, indeed, by the way of prescription — this
समाधिः पारमार्थिकःsamādhiḥ pāramārthikaḥsamādhi, by the highest reckoning
Translation
«Full above, full below, full in the middle, of the nature of the auspicious — directly, by the way of prescription: this is samādhi by the highest reckoning».
Version
b7dd4ba2416a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse for the sake of which this whole part is worth reading, and it is, I think, the most valuable place in the second chapter. The previous verse defined samādhi through lack: void of light, void of mind, void of intellect. This one defines it through fullness: ūrdhva-pūrṇam adhaḥ-pūrṇam madhya-pūrṇam, «full above, full below, full in the middle».
And it is said directly by what device: sākṣād vidhi-mukho hy eṣaḥ, «directly, by the way of prescription», that is, positively, not by exclusion. And to this — not to the previous — is given the name pāramārthika, «by the highest reckoning». That is, the book itself sets the positive definition above the negative; and this is exactly what the Vaishnava side asserts through all hundred and eight books.
Let its argument be repeated one last time, for here is its place. Negations do not hold to the end: every time speech reaches what remains, something positive appears in the language — śivam in the Māṇḍūkya, the name Janārdana in Varāha (3.19), pūrṇa here. Add the word śivātmaka, «of the nature of the auspicious».
This is that very śivam with which the Māṇḍūkya ends, examined at Pañcabrahma (13); and it is worth noting that it stands here too — in the verse where the definition is declared positive. That is, in the most condensed of the non-dual books and in the last book of the collection, the last word is one and the same: the auspicious.