Upanishads · Mahā 2.27
॥
Devanāgarī
केवलं सुसमः स्वच्छो मौनी मुदितमानसः सम्पूर्ण इव शीतांशुरतिष्ठदमलः शुकः
Transliteration (IAST)
kevalaṃ susamaḥ svaccho maunī muditamānasaḥ sampūrṇa iva śītāṃśuratiṣṭhadamalaḥ śukaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
केवलम् सु-समः स्वच्छःkevalam su-samaḥ svacchaḥonly perfectly even, transparent; just wholly level and limpid
मौनी मुदित-मानसःmaunī mudita-mānasaḥsilent, with a gladdened mind; wordless, with rejoicing consciousness
सम्पूर्णः इव शीत-अंशुःsampūrṇaḥ iva śīta-aṃśuḥlike the full cool-rayed moon; as the moon in her fullness
अतिष्ठत् अमलः शुकःatiṣṭhat amalaḥ śukaḥstood the stainless Śuka; abode the unstained Śuka
Translation
Only even, clear, silent, with a gladdened mind — like the full moon — stood the stainless Śuka.
Version
ddd4c83261f0 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse deserves careful reading, for it refutes the current notion of the ascetic.
Śuka amid temptation is not tense, not stern and not gloomy. He is mudita-mānasa — “with a gladdened mind”. Even, clear, silent and glad.
This is not stoicism. The stoic endures; here no one endures.
The word svaccha — “transparent, clear” — says the same: one can see through him. Nothing in him is hidden or suppressed.
The image of the full moon picks up the “moon-faced” of 2.25. There the moon was about looks; here about a state: sampūrṇa, “full”. To the full one nothing can be added; from the full one nothing can be taken.
This very fullness is what Śuka came for — and he had it already. But, as will appear, to keep it one more person is needed.