Upanishads · Mahā 4.23
॥
Devanāgarī
उपादेयानुपतनं हेयैकान्तविसर्जनम् यदेतन्मनसो रूपं तद्बाह्यं विद्धि नेतरत्
Transliteration (IAST)
upādeyānupatanaṃ heyaikāntavisarjanam yadetanmanaso rūpaṃ tadbāhyaṃ viddhi netarat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उपादेय-अनुपतनम्upādeya-anupatanamthe running after what is to be taken; the falling upon what should be accepted
हेय-एक-अन्त-विसर्जनम्heya-eka-anta-visarjanamthe resolute discarding of the rejected; the unconditional dismissal of what is to be cast off
यत् एतत् मनसः रूपम्yat etat manasaḥ rūpamthis is the form of the mind; such is the shape of consciousness
तत् बाह्यम् विद्धि न इतरत्tat bāhyam viddhi na itaratknow that this is the outer, and nothing else; know: it is the external, and nothing besides
Translation
“The striving for what is to be taken and the resolute discarding of what is rejected — this is the mind's form; know that this is the outer, and nothing else.”
Version
58882b857188 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A definition of what to call the external, and it is unexpected.
Usually the external is the things around: house, people, property. The verse says: the external is the work of the mind that divides into “take” and “discard”.
Upādeya and heya — “to be accepted” and “to be rejected” — are a pair from the vocabulary of logic. On it rests all calculation.
And now it is said: this very calculation is bāhya, “the outward”, na itarat — “and nothing else”.
The conclusion is practical and unpleasant for those who leave the world. One can go into the forest and remain wholly in the external — if one goes on dividing into the desired and the rejected, even if dividing the spiritual from the worldly.
And the converse: one can live among things and be within, if that division no longer works in you. Verse 4.10 said exactly this.