Upanishads · Mahā 2.40
॥
Devanāgarī
ये शुद्धवासना भूयो न जन्मानर्थभागिनः ज्ञातज्ञेयास्त उच्यन्ते जीवन्मुक्ता महाधियः
Transliteration (IAST)
ye śuddhavāsanā bhūyo na janmānarthabhāginaḥ jñātajñeyāsta ucyante jīvanmuktā mahādhiyaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ये शुद्ध-वासनाः भूयःye śuddha-vāsanāḥ bhūyaḥwhose vāsanās are pure — they henceforth; those whose impressions are clean, hereafter
न जन्म-अनर्थ-भागिनःna janma-anartha-bhāginaḥhave no share in the calamity of birth; hold no portion in the disaster of being born
ज्ञात-ज्ञेयाः ते उच्यन्तेjñāta-jñeyāḥ te ucyanteknowers of the knowable, they are called; having grasped what is to be grasped, they are named
जीवन्मुक्ताः महा-धियःjīvanmuktāḥ mahā-dhiyaḥliberated while living, great of mind; free while alive, mighty in reason
Translation
“Those whose impressions are pure have henceforth no share in the calamity of birth; knowers of the knowable, they are called the great-minded, liberated while living.”
Version
e43706d9bd64 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse makes an important correction to the last — and it is easy to overlook.
There the speech was of abandoning the vāsanās “without remainder”. Here the speech is of śuddha-vāsanā — “pure vāsanās”.
So the point is not to burn every inclination out of the mind. The point is that inclination become pure.
This distinction runs through all the books on yoga and through Vaiṣṇava thought especially. A man without inclinations does not exist; there exists a man whose inclinations have ceased to drag him down. The liberated one is no scorched field — he is a field sown with something else.
Hence the turn jñāta-jñeya, “knowers of the knowable”. Not “those who have ceased to know”.
In this reading the two verses agree: the abandonment without remainder is of the impure vāsanās; the pure remain and lead.