Upanishads · Mahā 4.8
॥
Devanāgarī
चेतसा सम्परित्यज्य सर्वभावात्मभावनाम् यथा तिष्ठसि तिष्ठ त्वं मूकान्धबधिरोपमः
Transliteration (IAST)
cetasā samparityajya sarvabhāvātmabhāvanām yathā tiṣṭhasi tiṣṭha tvaṃ mūkāndhabadhiropamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चेतसा सम्परित्यज्यcetasā samparityajyawith the mind having wholly abandoned; with consciousness having utterly cast off
सर्व-भाव-आत्म-भावनाम्sarva-bhāva-ātma-bhāvanāmthe thinking of oneself as every state; the imagining of oneself as any condition
यथा तिष्ठसि तिष्ठ त्वम्yathā tiṣṭhasi tiṣṭha tvamas thou standest, so stand; as thou abidest, so abide
मूक-अन्ध-बधिर-उपमःmūka-andha-badhira-upamaḥlike one dumb, blind and deaf; just as a mute, a blind man and one deaf
Translation
“Having abandoned with the mind all thinking of thyself as this or that state, stand as thou standest — like one dumb, blind and deaf.”
Version
bc379b0bf537 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The counsel is unexpectedly simple: “as thou standest, so stand”.
Yathā tiṣṭhasi tiṣṭha tvam. Do not sit differently, do not go to another place, do not take up special exercises.
One thing is ordered left: sarva-bhāva-ātma-bhāvanā — “the thinking of oneself as every state”, the habit of identifying with what happens to you. I am merry, I am tired, I am insulted, I have succeeded.
The comparison with the dumb, blind and deaf needs a proviso, or it becomes a sermon of insensibility. It means not that the organs have failed, but that the man no longer answers what is seen and heard as he answered before: he does not take it up, does not object, does not set off in pursuit.
Recall how the third chapter ended: Nidāgha said he would become “like a painted figure” (3.57). Ṛbhu answers in the same words — and thereby accepts his intention, correcting only one thing: there is no need to go anywhere for it.