Upanishads · Mahā 2.12
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वयैव सूक्ष्मया बुद्ध्या सर्वं विज्ञातवाञ्छुकः स्वयं प्राप्ते परे वस्तुन्यविश्रान्तमनाः स्थितः
Transliteration (IAST)
svayaiva sūkṣmayā buddhyā sarvaṃ vijñātavāñchukaḥ svayaṃ prāpte pare vastunyaviśrāntamanāḥ sthitaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्वया एव सूक्ष्मया बुद्ध्याsvayā eva sūkṣmayā buddhyāwith his own subtle reason; by his own refined understanding
सर्वम् विज्ञातवान् शुकःsarvam vijñātavān śukaḥŚuka came to know everything; Śuka comprehended all
स्वयम् प्राप्ते परे वस्तुनिsvayam prāpte pare vastuniin the highest reality attained by himself; in the supreme substance won on his own
अविश्रान्त-मनाः स्थितःaviśrānta-manāḥ sthitaḥhe remained with a mind unquieted; he abode with a mind that found no rest
Translation
With his own subtle reason Śuka came to know everything; and, having reached the highest reality by himself, he remained with a mind that found no rest.
Version
cb97d903aef2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is the knot of the whole tale, and it is named without evasion.
Śuka came to know everything. Reached the highest. By himself. And — aviśrānta-manāḥ, “with a mind that found no rest”.
This is one of the most honest places in all Upaniṣadic literature. It admits what books about knowledge usually keep silent: right understanding and peace are not the same thing.
One can know rightly and have nothing to stand on. Knowledge won for oneself alone hangs on one's own reasoning, and reasoning can always be reasoned over again. Hence the unrest: not “what if I erred”, but “I have nothing to stand on”.
The word viśrānti — “rest, repose” — will recur more than once: Śuka will tell Janaka “from thee I shall gain rest” (2.35), and the knower will be described as “having gained unsurpassed rest” (2.47).
The remedy the book will prescribe is not new knowledge. It will be the very same. Only one thing will differ: from whose lips it is heard.