Upanishads · Mahā 2.52
॥
Devanāgarī
येन धर्ममधर्मं च मनोमननमीहितम् सर्वमन्तः परित्यक्तं स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
yena dharmamadharmaṃ ca manomananamīhitam sarvamantaḥ parityaktaṃ sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
येन धर्मम् अधर्मम् चyena dharmam adharmam caby whom dharma and adharma; by whom the righteous and the unrighteous
मनः-मननम् ईहितम्manaḥ-mananam īhitamthe mind's musing, the urge; the working of consciousness, the impulse
सर्वम् अन्तः परित्यक्तम्sarvam antaḥ parityaktamall inwardly is relinquished; everything within himself is let go
सः जीवन्मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvanmuktaḥ ucyatehe is called liberated while living; he is named free while yet alive
Translation
“By whom all is relinquished within — the righteous and the unrighteous, the working of the mind and the urge — he is called liberated while living.”
Version
871be95a442b · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The eleventh mark repeats the eighth (2.49) and adds to it the deciding word: antaḥ — “within”.
What is relinquished is not conduct but the inner working: manas-manana, “the mind's musing”, and īhita, “the urge, the undertaking”.
This points straight to where the real renunciation goes on. A man may do nothing and all the while ceaselessly build, weigh and intend. Such inaction is worth nothing.
The word manana names that very churning of thought which occupies us almost constantly: the turning over of options, conversations with an imagined interlocutor, the going over of yesterday.
The verse says: let that go. Not thought as such — precisely the grinding.