Upanishads · Mahā 4.34
॥
Devanāgarī
सन्तोषामृतपानेन ये शान्तास्तृप्तिमागताः आत्मारामा महात्मानस्ते महापदमागताः
Transliteration (IAST)
santoṣāmṛtapānena ye śāntāstṛptimāgatāḥ ātmārāmā mahātmānaste mahāpadamāgatāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सन्तोष-अमृत-पानेनsantoṣa-amṛta-pānenaby drinking the nectar of contentment; by partaking of the nectar of satisfaction
ये शान्ताः तृप्तिम् आगताःye śāntāḥ tṛptim āgatāḥwho are stilled and have come to repletion; who are pacified, arrived at fullness
आत्म-आरामाः महा-आत्मानःātma-ārāmāḥ mahā-ātmānaḥrejoicing in themselves, great of soul; finding their delight within, lofty in spirit
ते महा-पदम् आगताःte mahā-padam āgatāḥthey have reached the great state; they have come to the highest station
Translation
“Who, having drunk the nectar of contentment, are stilled and replete, who rejoice in themselves and are great of soul — they have reached the great state.”
Version
5320118bf9b9 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The transition to the third gatekeeper — santoṣa, contentment.
It is named amṛta, “nectar”, and this is no mere praise. Nectar is what gives immortality; contentment is so named because it ends the hunger — and hunger is what drives a man from birth to birth.
The word tṛpti means “repletion, satedness” — the state of one who has eaten his fill and seeks no more.
Ātma-ārāma — “having a garden within himself”, rejoicing in himself. The word ārāma means precisely “a garden, a grove for strolling”. Such a man need not go out for delight.
Note the link with calm: they stand side by side not by chance. Contentment is the cause, calm the effect. He who expects nothing is unmoved not by effort but by constitution.
Vaiṣṇava letters know the ātmārāma from the famous verse of the Bhāgavatam, where it is said that even such men — already sated with themselves — turn to causeless devotion. Contentment with oneself is not the last step; but that lies beyond what Ṛbhu says here.