Upanishads · Mahā 2.41
॥
Devanāgarī
पदार्थभावनादार्ढ्यं बन्ध इत्यभिधीयते वासनातानवं ब्रह्मन्मोक्ष इत्यभिधीयते
Transliteration (IAST)
padārthabhāvanādārḍhyaṃ bandha ityabhidhīyate vāsanātānavaṃ brahmanmokṣa ityabhidhīyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पदार्थ-भावना-दार्ढ्यम्padārtha-bhāvanā-dārḍhyamfirmness of the thought of things; the rootedness of pondering on objects
बन्धः इति अभिधीयतेbandhaḥ iti abhidhīyateis called bondage; is named the fetters
वासना-तानवम् ब्रह्मन्vāsanā-tānavam brahmanthe thinning of impressions, O brāhmaṇa; the attenuating of vāsanās, O brāhmaṇa
मोक्षः इति अभिधीयतेmokṣaḥ iti abhidhīyateis called liberation; is named deliverance
Translation
“The firm rootedness of the thought of things is called bondage; and the thinning of impressions, O brāhmaṇa, is called liberation.”
Version
ed835ddb83c1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Both words defined at once — and both defined by degree, not by presence.
Bondage is dārḍhya, the “firmness, hardening” of the thought of things. Not the thought of things itself, but its petrification.
Liberation is tānava, the “thinning” of vāsanās. Not annihilation, but attenuation.
The image is plain: bondage is a rope twisted tight; freedom is a rope worn down to a thread, torn with a finger.
Hence an important consequence for one reading this as a manual. The work goes not by a wrench but by thinning; not “stop thinking of things”, but stop holding that thought hard.
And more: the word padārtha means literally “what stands behind the word”. It is not the thing that hardens — our naming of it hardens.