Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 2.14
॥
Devanāgarī
यथैव बिम्बं मृदयोपलिप्तं तेजोमयं भ्राजते तत् सुधान्तम् ।
तद् वात्मतत्त्वं प्रसमीक्ष्य देही एकः कृतार्थो भवते वीतशोकः
Transliteration (IAST)
yathaiva bimbaṃ mṛdayopaliptaṃ tejomayaṃ bhrājate tat sudhāntam /
tad vātmatattvaṃ prasamīkṣya dehī ekaḥ kṛtārtho bhavate vītaśokaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा एवyathā evajust as; in the very way that
बिम्बम्bimbama mirror; a metal disc
मृदयाmṛdayāwith clay; with earth used for scouring
उपलिप्तम्upaliptamsmeared; daubed
तेजोमयम्tejomayamradiant; full of lustre
भ्राजतेbhrājateshines; begins to gleam
तत्tatit; that very one
सुधान्तम्sudhāntamwell cleaned; scoured clean
तत् वाtat vāso too; in just that way
आत्मतत्त्वम्ātmatattvamthe truth of the ātman; the essence of oneself
प्रसमीक्ष्यprasamīkṣyahaving seen; having examined to the end
देहीdehīthe embodied one; the wearer of a body
एकःekaḥone; whole, undivided
कृतार्थःkṛtārthaḥhaving attained his end; having fulfilled his purpose
भवतेbhavatebecomes; is made
वीतशोकःvītaśokaḥfree from sorrow; one whose grief has passed
Translation
As a mirror smeared with clay shines out in full lustre when it is scoured clean — so the embodied one, having seen the truth of his own soul, becomes whole, one who has attained his end, free from sorrow.
Version
0769c111feb8 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image is taken from household life: a metal mirror is cleaned with wet clay, and a disc that looked filthy shines afterwards. Everything the preceding mantras described — posture, breath, place, signs — is that very clay: not an ornament but a means of cleaning.
Most important is what the image does not contain. The cleaning adds nothing to the mirror; the lustre always belonged to it and was merely covered. So here: sādhana does not create a new nature in a man, it removes a coating. This is a direct continuation of the thought of 1.13 about the unmanifested fire: not absence, but concealment.
The fruit is described by three words, each in its place. Ekaḥ, "one": the scatteredness has ended, the man has ceased to be a crowd of warring desires. Kṛtārthaḥ, "one who has attained his end", literally "he whose purpose is fulfilled": he no longer needs to prove to himself why he lives. Vīta-śokaḥ — "he whose grief has passed".
The last word chimes with the whole Upaniṣadic tradition: sorrow departs not because life has stopped wounding, but because what cannot be wounded has been found. The Kaṭha says the same: "having thought upon that great Ātman, the wise man does not grieve".
Note that the talk here is still of the truth of one's own soul, ātma-tattva. That is half the matter; the other half the next mantra will name — and it is about God.