Upanishads · Mahā 4.47
॥
Devanāgarī
द्रष्टा दृश्यवशाद्बद्धो दृश्याभावे विमुच्यते जगत्त्वमहमित्यादिसर्गात्मा दृश्यमुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
draṣṭā dṛśyavaśādbaddho dṛśyābhāve vimucyate jagattvamahamityādisargātmā dṛśyamucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्रष्टा दृश्य-वशात् बद्धःdraṣṭā dṛśya-vaśāt baddhaḥthe seer is bound by the power of the seen; the looker is fettered by the sway of the visible
दृश्य-अभावे विमुच्यतेdṛśya-abhāve vimucyatein the absence of the seen he is freed; upon the removal of the visible he is released
जगत् त्वम् अहम् इति आदिjagat tvam aham iti ādi“world”, “thou”, “I” and the rest; “world”, “thou”, “I” and the like
सर्ग-आत्मा दृश्यम् उच्यतेsarga-ātmā dṛśyam ucyatethe essence of creation is called the seen; the substance of the creation is named the visible
Translation
“The seer is bound by the power of the seen and is freed in the absence of the seen; ‘world’, ‘thou’, ‘I’ and the rest — the very essence of creation — is called the seen.”
Version
321e35387045 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse refines the previous one, and does so with a single turn easily overlooked.
What is called “the seen” is enumerated: jagat, tvam, aham — “world”, “thou” and — here it is — “I”.
That is, the “I” too is assigned to the seen.
This is essential. We usually divide thus: over there the objects, and here the I that looks. The verse says: the “I” you have in mind is also an object. It is observable, it has properties, it changes, it can be spoken of in the third person.
The true draṣṭṛ, the seer, is not it.
Hence the meaning of dṛśya-abhāve vimucyate — “freed in the absence of the seen”. It is not the world that must vanish, but that false “I” standing paired with it.
Telling, too, that “thou” stands between “world” and “I”. The other person is also recognized as part of the same construction.