Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 2.12
॥
Devanāgarī
यत्र सुप्तो न कंचन कामं कामयते न कंचन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत्सुषुप्तम् । सुषुप्तस्थान एकीभूतः प्रज्ञानघन एवानन्दमयो ह्यानन्दभुक् चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञस्तृतीयः पादः
Transliteration (IAST)
yatra supto na kaṃcana kāmaṃ kāmayate na kaṃcana svapnaṃ paśyati tatsuṣuptam | suṣuptasthāna ekībhūtaḥ prajñānaghana evānandamayo hyānandabhuk cetomukhaḥ prājñastṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्र सुप्तःyatra suptaḥwhere the sleeper; there, where the one asleep
न कंचन कामम् कामयतेna kaṃcana kāmam kāmayatedesires no desire; craves nothing at all
न कंचन स्वप्नम् पश्यतिna kaṃcana svapnam paśyatiand sees no dream; and beholds no vision
तत् सुषुप्तम्tat suṣuptamthat is deep sleep; this is suṣupti
सुषुप्तस्थानः एकीभूतःsuṣuptasthānaḥ ekībhūtaḥabiding in deep sleep, become one; stationed in suṣupti, made single
प्रज्ञानघनः एव आनन्दमयःprajñānaghanaḥ eva ānandamayaḥa mass of cognition, made of bliss; a density of knowing, woven of bliss
हि आनन्दभुक् चेतोमुखःhi ānandabhuk cetomukhaḥenjoying bliss, whose mouth is thought; eater of joy, whose gate is consciousness
प्राज्ञः तृतीयः पादःprājñaḥ tṛtīyaḥ pādaḥPrājña — the third foot; Prājña — the third quarter
Translation
Where the sleeper desires no desire and sees no dream — that is deep sleep. Abiding in deep sleep, become one, a mass of cognition, made of bliss, enjoying bliss, whose mouth is thought: Prājña, this is the third foot.
Version
2334bd8a61b2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
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The third foot: dreamless sleep — and it is described in words that should not be waved away.
The man in deep sleep is named prajñāna-ghana — “a mass of cognition” — and ānandamaya, “made of bliss”, and ānanda-bhuk, “enjoying bliss”.
Why such words of one who simply sleeps?
Because the Upaniṣads take deep sleep as a daily proof. Everyone, waking, says: “I slept well, I saw nothing.” So he was there — else who would testify? And so it was well with him there — else whence the “well”?
It follows that even without objects, without body and without thoughts a man does not vanish and does not suffer. He is, and it is well with him.
This is taken as a pointer to the nature of the Ātman.
But the Māṇḍūkya does not stop at the third foot, and this matters most of all. Deep sleep is not the goal: there everything has “become one”, ekībhūta, and therefore nothing is known there.
Our book has marked this trait already, when it set Rāma not in the third foot but in the fourth. The bliss of oblivion is not the last word.