Upanishads · Mahā 4.39
॥
Devanāgarī
तुर्यविश्रान्तियुक्तस्य निवृत्तस्य भवार्णवात् जीवतोऽजीवतश्चैव गृहस्थस्याथवा यतेः
Transliteration (IAST)
turyaviśrāntiyuktasya nivṛttasya bhavārṇavāt jīvato'jīvataścaiva gṛhasthasyāthavā yateḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तुर्य-विश्रान्ति-युक्तस्यturya-viśrānti-yuktasyaof one joined to the repose of the fourth; of him united with the rest of turya
निवृत्तस्य भव-अर्णवात्nivṛttasya bhava-arṇavātturned back from the ocean of becoming; withdrawn from the sea of existence
जीवतः अजीवतः च एवjīvataḥ ajīvataḥ ca evawhether living or not living; alike of the living and the not-living
गृहस्थस्य अथवा यतेःgṛhasthasya athavā yateḥof a householder or of a renunciant; of the master of a house or of an ascetic
Translation
“Of him who has gained repose in the fourth and turned back from the ocean of becoming — whether he lives or not, whether he is a householder or a renunciant…”
Version
09bb8d024c95 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Turya — “the fourth”: the state beyond waking, dreaming sleep and deep sleep. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad describes it as that which is none of the three and which holds them.
What is named here is not an experience but viśrānti — repose in it.
More important is what stands in the second half, and it is one of the book's widest assertions: gṛhasthasya athavā yateḥ — “of a householder or of a renunciant”.
It is indifferent in which order of life a man lives.
This directly corrects what Nidāgha talked himself into in the third chapter (3.48), where it came out that happiness begins with leaving the family. The teacher sets both orders on a level.
The Vaiṣṇava tradition has always held to this verse as a support: the worth is not in the dress and not in the station. A sannyāsī full of calculation is farther from the goal than a householder without appropriation.
The verse's thought continues in the next.