Upanishads · Mahā 2.62
॥
Devanāgarī
यः समस्तार्थजालेषु व्यवहार्यपि निःस्पृहः परार्थेष्विव पूर्णात्मा स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
yaḥ samastārthajāleṣu vyavahāryapi niḥspṛhaḥ parārtheṣviva pūrṇātmā sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यः समस्त-अर्थ-जालेषुyaḥ samasta-artha-jāleṣuwho amid all the nets of things; who among all the toils of the objective
व्यवहारी अपि निःस्पृहःvyavahārī api niḥspṛhaḥthough transacting, is without greed; though he conducts affairs, is without craving
पर-अर्थेषु इव पूर्ण-आत्माpara-artheṣu iva pūrṇa-ātmāas if in others' affairs, full in himself; as though in another's business, complete within
सः जीवन्मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvanmuktaḥ ucyatehe is called liberated while living; he is named free while yet alive
Translation
“Who amid the nets of all things conducts affairs, yet without craving — as if they were another's affairs, full in himself — he is called liberated while living.”
Version
ae2ec575b678 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The twenty-first and last mark — and the most exact image in the whole train.
The liberated man conducts his own affairs as one conducts another's: para-artheṣu iva.
Everyone knows the difference. In another's business you work properly, but you will not lie sleepless over it. Not because you are careless — because it is not yours.
The word vyavahārī is worth marking: this is no hermit but a man “in circulation”, doing business, trading, ruling. The train of marks ends not with a departure from life but with a particular way of being in it.
With this the verse sums up the whole chapter. Janaka is a king; and the answer given by his own life looks exactly like this.
Vaiṣṇava thought names the same thing otherwise — and, perhaps, more fully. The affairs are not another's: they are His. The steward runs the master's household diligently, and does not lie sleepless over it.