Upanishads · Mahā 4.50
॥
Devanāgarī
न बाह्ये नापि हृदये सद्रूपं विद्यते मनः यदर्थं प्रतिभानं तन्मन इत्यभिधीयते
Transliteration (IAST)
na bāhye nāpi hṛdaye sadrūpaṃ vidyate manaḥ yadarthaṃ pratibhānaṃ tanmana ityabhidhīyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न बाह्ये न अपि हृदयेna bāhye na api hṛdayeneither outside nor in the heart; neither without nor in the inner part
सत्-रूपम् विद्यते मनःsat-rūpam vidyate manaḥis the mind found as an existing thing; is consciousness found as something that is
यत्-अर्थम् प्रतिभानम् तत्yat-artham pratibhānam tatthat for whose sake there is appearing; that owing to which there is glimmering
मनः इति अभिधीयतेmanaḥ iti abhidhīyateis what is called the mind; it is what is named consciousness
Translation
“Neither outside nor in the heart is the mind found as an existing thing; that owing to which there is appearing — that is what is called the mind.”
Version
f7c21facaa4d · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here the mind is at last defined, and defined through absence.
It is sought in two places — outside and within — and found in neither as sat-rūpa, “a thing possessed of being”.
This is verifiable. Try to point at the mind. Thoughts are not the mind; they pass through it. The brain is not the mind. The feeling of “I” is also something observed.
What is it then? It is said: yad-arthaṃ pratibhānam — “that owing to which there is appearing”.
Pratibhāna — “glimmering, appearing, the flash of a presentation”. The mind is that owing to which things appear to us at all.
That is, the mind is not a thing but an event; not an organ but an occurrence.
This also explains why one cannot war with it head-on. You cannot seize by the throat what does not exist as an object. Hence treatment (3.21) is the only way.