Upanishads · Mahā 2.68
॥
Devanāgarī
चिन्मात्रं चैत्यरहितमनन्तमजरं शिवम् अनादिमध्यपर्यन्तं यदनादि निरामयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
cinmātraṃ caityarahitamanantamajaraṃ śivam anādimadhyaparyantaṃ yadanādi nirāmayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चिन्मात्रम् चैत्य-रहितम्cinmātram caitya-rahitamconsciousness alone, without an object of consciousness; pure awareness, void of the cognized
अनन्तम् अजरम् शिवम्anantam ajaram śivamendless, unaging, benign; boundless, undecaying, gracious
अनादि-मध्य-पर्यन्तम्anādi-madhya-paryantamwithout beginning, middle or end; having neither start, nor midst, nor limit
यत् अनादि निरामयम्yat anādi nirāmayambeginningless, flawless; without origin, free of blemish
Translation
“Pure consciousness without an object of consciousness, boundless, unaging, benign, without beginning, middle or end, beginningless and flawless.”
Version
53bbf23f41f5 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The negations are over, and the book at last names several properties outright.
Weightiest of them is śiva, “benign”. Till now the bodiless freedom was spoken of so that it might seem an indifferent depth. Here it is said: it is good.
In the Upaniṣads this word is not the name of a deity but a qualifier: kindly, bringing good. It shuts out the thought that the path's end is a cold indifference.
Nirāmaya, “without flaw”, literally “without disease” — the same direction.
The expression cin-mātraṃ caitya-rahitam returns to 2.6: consciousness without an object of consciousness. The circle has closed — that with which the description of the Ātman began is named also as the path's end.
Note that the list of properties ends where the name begins. Gauḍīya Vedānta takes here the next step, on which this chapter does not venture: the benign, boundless, flawless consciousness is a Person — He whom the first adhyāya named Nārāyaṇa.