Upanishads · Mahā 2.58
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वेच्छाः सकलाः शङ्काः सर्वेहाः सर्वनिश्चयाः धिया येन परित्यक्ताः स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvecchāḥ sakalāḥ śaṅkāḥ sarvehāḥ sarvaniścayāḥ dhiyā yena parityaktāḥ sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-इच्छाः सकलाः शङ्काःsarva-icchāḥ sakalāḥ śaṅkāḥall desires, all misgivings; every wanting, all apprehensions
सर्व-ईहाः सर्व-निश्चयाःsarva-īhāḥ sarva-niścayāḥall endeavours, all determinations; all undertakings, all verdicts
धिया येन परित्यक्ताःdhiyā yena parityaktāḥby whom through reason relinquished; by whom through understanding let go
सः जीवन्मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvanmuktaḥ ucyatehe is called liberated while living; he is named free while yet alive
Translation
“By whom all desires, all misgivings, all undertakings and all determinations are let go through reason — he is called liberated while living.”
Version
1c2ad8b96137 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The seventeenth mark lists four movements of the mind, and the list is complete not by chance.
Icchā — wanting, the pull forward. Śaṅkā — misgiving, the recoil backward. Īhā — undertaking, the swing at a deed. Niścaya — determination, the verdict passed.
Together they cover all the mind is busy with: it wants, fears, launches, decrees.
The fourth in the list is the most unexpected. Let go of determinations? For niścaya, “firm knowledge”, was Śuka's praise in 2.2.
There is no contradiction, if one keeps in mind the word dhiyā, “through reason”. What is let go is not the conclusions of understanding, but the habit of passing verdict on everything in turn: this is good, that man is bad, so it must be. A mind with a verdict ready for everything is not free — it is occupied.
Note too the word sarva, “all”, standing by each of the four. Selectivity does not work here: while even one misgiving is kept, the whole machine is kept.