Upanishads · Mahā 2.37
॥
Devanāgarī
यद्विज्ञानात्पुमान्सद्यो जीवन्मुक्तत्वमाप्नुयात्
Transliteration (IAST)
yadvijñānātpumānsadyo jīvanmuktatvamāpnuyāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्-विज्ञानात् पुमान् सद्यःyat-vijñānāt pumān sadyaḥfrom the knowing of which a man at once; by the comprehension of which one straightway
जीवन्मुक्तत्वम् आप्नुयात्jīvanmuktatvam āpnuyātwould attain liberation while living; reaches freedom while still in this life
Translation
“Knowing which, a man at once attains liberation even while he lives.”
Version
5a3a78ad3bb5 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The half-verse introduces the notion around which the whole middle of the chapter is built: jīvan-mukti, “liberation while living”.
The compound is provocative: jīvan — “living”, mukti — “freedom”. Freedom not after death and not instead of life, but in the midst of it, with the body, with affairs, with the senses.
This is the answer to Śuka's question as he asked it. He asked how the pageant of the round subsides. The answer: not by the round's ceasing, but by a man's ceasing to be bound within it.
The word sadyaḥ — “at once” — is likewise not accidental. Liberation here is no reward deferred for later, but the instant consequence of understanding.
Further, from 2.42 to 2.62, will come a long train of verses, each ending with the words sa jīvanmukta ucyate — “he is called liberated while living”. Twenty-one marks. Janaka does not define freedom — he describes it from twenty-one sides, as one walks around a building.