Upanishads · Mahā 2.46
॥
Devanāgarī
ईप्सितानीप्सिते न स्तो यस्यान्तर्वर्तिदृष्टिषु सुषुप्तिवद्यश्चरति स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
īpsitānīpsite na sto yasyāntarvartidṛṣṭiṣu suṣuptivadyaścarati sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ईप्सित-अनीप्सिते न स्तःīpsita-anīpsite na staḥthere is no wished-for and unwished-for; neither the desired nor the rejected exists
यस्य अन्तर्-वर्ति-दृष्टिषुyasya antar-varti-dṛṣṭiṣuin whose gazes turned inward; in whose regards directed within
सुषुप्ति-वत् यः चरतिsuṣupti-vat yaḥ caratiwho moves as in deep sleep; who walks as though in dreamless sleep
सः जीवन्मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvanmuktaḥ ucyatehe is called liberated while living; he is named free while yet alive
Translation
“In whose inward-turned gazes there is neither wished-for nor unwished-for, and who moves as in deep sleep — he is called liberated while living.”
Version
1001d9567b27 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth mark — and its comparison is bold: he walks as in deep sleep.
Deep sleep (suṣupti) in these books is the model of the state without division. There are no objects there, no “I” facing them, no desires. Hence it is taken as the likeness.
But the likeness is incomplete, and the book knows it: in 2.10 it was said already that cognition is the absence of notions precisely in one awake. The sleeper is not free — he is simply switched off.
So the likeness is in one thing: as the sleeper does not divide the world into needed and unneeded, neither does this man. And the difference is that he meanwhile walks and sees.
The expression antar-varti-dṛṣṭi, “the gaze turned inward”, explains where this comes from. The wished-for and unwished-for exist only so long as one looks outward for what is missing.