Upanishads · Mahā 2.59
॥
Devanāgarī
जन्मस्थितिविनाशेषु सोदयास्तमयेषु च सममेव मनो यस्य स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
janmasthitivināśeṣu sodayāstamayeṣu ca samameva mano yasya sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जन्म-स्थिति-विनाशेषुjanma-sthiti-vināśeṣuin birth, in continuance, in destruction; at arising, at standing, at ruin
स-उदय-अस्तमयेषु चsa-udaya-astamayeṣu caand in risings with settings; and at ascents and declines
समम् एव मनः यस्यsamam eva manaḥ yasyawhose mind is even; in whom consciousness is unchangingly level
सः जीवन्मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvanmuktaḥ ucyatehe is called liberated while living; he is named free while yet alive
Translation
“Whose mind is even at arising, continuance and destruction, at risings and at settings — he is called liberated while living.”
Version
a0d19a77b006 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The eighteenth mark sets two series side by side: the fate of things and the course of the luminaries.
The first series — janma, sthiti, vināśa: birth, standing, ruin. These are the three seasons of every thing, from a blade of grass to the universe.
The second series — udaya, astamaya: rising and setting. In Sanskrit these words mean both the sun's movement and the rise and fall in human affairs.
The joining is no ornament. It says: the changes in your life are of the same order as the change of day and night. No one grieves over a sunset.
We accept exactly what we have acknowledged as inevitable, and we fret over what we count as depending on us. The verse moves the boundary.