Upanishads · Mahā 2.77
॥
Devanāgarī
व्यपगतकलनाकलङ्कशुद्धः स्वयममलात्मनि पावने पदेऽसौ सलिलकण इवांबुधौ महात्मा विगलितवासनमेकतां जगाम
Transliteration (IAST)
vyapagatakalanākalaṅkaśuddhaḥ svayamamalātmani pāvane pade'sau salilakaṇa ivāṃbudhau mahātmā vigalitavāsanamekatāṃ jagāma
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
व्यपगत-कलना-कलङ्क-शुद्धःvyapagata-kalanā-kalaṅka-śuddhaḥpure, without the stain of positing; cleansed, free of the blemish of surmise
स्वयम् अमल-आत्मनि पावनेsvayam amala-ātmani pāvanehimself — into the flawless, purifying; of himself — into the unstained and hallowing
पदे असौ सलिल-कणः इवpade asau salila-kaṇaḥ ivastate he, like a drop of water; condition he, as a droplet of moisture
अम्बुधौ महात्माambudhau mahātmāinto the ocean, the great-souled one; into the sea, the lofty of soul
विगलित-वासनम् एकताम् जगामvigalita-vāsanam ekatām jagāmawith vāsanās melted away, came to oneness; with inclinations dissolved, attained union
Translation
Pure, without the stain of positing, this great soul entered of himself the flawless, hallowing state — as a drop of water enters the ocean — and, his inclinations melted away, came to oneness.
Version
af9a0f04def7 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The chapter's last verse, and in it all its threads are gathered.
Kalanā is the very word that was ordered left behind in 2.53 and that grew still in 2.61. Here it is called kalaṅka, a “stain”. The wordplay is almost assonant: kalanā-kalaṅka, “the stain of positing”.
Vāsanā is the word around which verses 2.39–2.41 turned. Here it is vigalita, “melted away”.
And the image: a drop of water in the ocean.
This image is disputed in Vedānta, and it is honest to say how differently it is read. The school of unconditional identity sees here the vanishing of the separate: the drop is no more, there is the ocean.
Gauḍīya Vedānta points out that the comparison is chosen with water, not with salt: the drop does not decompose and does not perish as substance — it ceases to be a separate drop. The word ekatā means “union”, not “the annihilation of one of the two”; and Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, expounding the fourth chapter of the Vedānta-sūtra, insists that the attainer enters communion, not non-being.
Note too the chapter's last word: jagāma, “he came, attained”. He who has come, is; otherwise there would be no one to come.
So ends the tale of Śuka. He who knew from birth — and still walked the whole way: down from the mountain, three weeks at another's gate, the king's bow, the selfsame words, peace, the mountain, silence, the ocean.