Upanishads · Mahā 2.43
॥
Devanāgarī
आपतत्सु यथाकालं सुखदुःखेष्वनारतः न हृष्यति ग्लायति यः स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
āpatatsu yathākālaṃ sukhaduḥkheṣvanārataḥ na hṛṣyati glāyati yaḥ sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आपतत्सु यथाकालम्āpatatsu yathākālamwhen they arrive each in its season; at what comes each at its appointed time
सुख-दुःखेषु अनारतःsukha-duḥkheṣu anārataḥin joys and sorrows, unceasingly; amid delights and sufferings, without pause
न हृष्यति ग्लायति यःna hṛṣyati glāyati yaḥwho neither exults nor droops; who is neither transported nor withered
सः जीवन्मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvanmuktaḥ ucyatehe is called liberated while living; he is named free while yet alive
Translation
“Who amid joys and sorrows, arriving each in its season in unbroken succession, neither exults nor droops — he is called liberated while living.”
Version
4e268b885b0f · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second mark — of the outer changes.
Two words to take hold of: yathākālam, “in its season”, and anārataḥ, “unceasingly”. Joys and sorrows come by their own timetable, not ours, and come without respite.
This is a sober view of life's arrangement. No one promises the liberated man fair weather: he has all the same things as everyone.
The verbs chosen are bodily: hṛṣyati — “bristles up, exults” (the same root as “gooseflesh”), glāyati — “wilts, droops”. The speech is not of philosophical imperturbability, but of a man not being tossed up or bent down.
Note that it does not say “does not feel”. It says “neither exults nor droops”. The difference between feeling and lurching — that is all the verse is about.