Upanishads · Mahā 4.61
॥
Devanāgarī
दृश्यासंभवबोधेन रागद्वेषादितानवे रतिर्बलोदिता यासौ समाधिरभिधीयते
Transliteration (IAST)
dṛśyāsaṃbhavabodhena rāgadveṣāditānave ratirbaloditā yāsau samādhirabhidhīyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दृश्य-असम्भव-बोधेनdṛśya-asambhava-bodhenaby the understanding that the seen cannot arise; by the realisation that the visible does not originate
राग-द्वेष-आदितानवेrāga-dveṣa-āditānaveat the thinning of attraction, aversion and the rest; upon the attenuation of liking, disliking and so forth
रतिः बल-उदिता या असौratiḥ bala-uditā yā asauthat delight which has risen in strength; that joy which has come forth in power
समाधिः अभिधीयतेsamādhiḥ abhidhīyateis called samādhi; is named concentration
Translation
“That delight which has risen in strength from the understanding that the seen cannot arise, as attraction and aversion grow thin — it is called samādhi.”
Version
dbbf08c72767 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The fourth definition, and in it is named what samādhi is born from.
Dṛśya-asambhava-bodha — “the understanding of the impossibility of the seen”. Not “the seen is not”, but “the seen cannot arise” — that is, it has no origination of its own, independent.
From this understanding rāga and dveṣa, attraction and aversion, grow thin. Naturally: one is drawn to what one credits with independent worth.
And in that place rises rati — “delight, attraction, love”.
The word deserves special note. Rati is not calm and not emptiness; it is the very word by which amorous attraction is described, and in Vaiṣṇava letters it names the first stage of dawning love for God.
A remarkable sequence results, and it is all in one line. The attraction to things has thinned — and in its place another attraction has risen, and risen bala-uditā, “in strength”.
Emptiness abides no vacancy. The freed capacity to love does not vanish; it finds another object.