Upanishads · Mahā 4.71
॥
Devanāgarī
अहं ब्रह्मेति नियतं मोक्षहेतुर्महात्मनाम् द्वे पदे बन्धमोक्षाय निर्ममेति ममेति च ममेति बध्यते जन्तुर्निर्ममेति विमुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
ahaṃ brahmeti niyataṃ mokṣaheturmahātmanām dve pade bandhamokṣāya nirmameti mameti ca mameti badhyate janturnirmameti vimucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अहम् ब्रह्म इति नियतम्aham brahma iti niyatam“I am Brahman” — constantly; “I am Brahman” — unswervingly
मोक्ष-हेतुः महा-आत्मनाम्mokṣa-hetuḥ mahā-ātmanāmis the cause of liberation for the great of soul; is the source of deliverance for the lofty in spirit
द्वे पदे बन्ध-मोक्षायdve pade bandha-mokṣāyatwo words — toward bondage and freedom; two sayings — for the fetters and for release
निर्मम इति मम इति चnirmama iti mama iti ca“not mine” and “mine”; “without mine” and “mine”
मम इति बध्यते जन्तुःmama iti badhyate jantuḥby “mine” the creature is bound; through “mine” the being finds itself tied
निर्मम इति विमुच्यतेnirmama iti vimucyateby “not mine” it is freed; through “not mine” it is delivered
Translation
“‘I am Brahman’, held constantly, is the cause of liberation for the great of soul. Two words lead to bondage and to freedom: ‘mine’ and ‘not mine’; by ‘mine’ the creature is bound, by ‘not mine’ it is freed.”
Version
278a7add5a55 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse's second half deserves learning by heart.
Two words. Mama — “mine”. Nirmama — “not mine”.
In them is everything.
Note how much more exact this is than the usual lists of vices. It says not “desire”, “anger”, “pride”; it says “mine”. All the passions are only the ways by which that one word holds on.
And observe that it says not “not I” but precisely “not mine”. What is denied is not one's existence but the appropriation.
This distinction Vaiṣṇava thought has always held firmly. Liberation is not in ceasing to be, but in ceasing to own. Not “I am not”, but “nothing is mine”.
The verse's first half, with “I am Brahman”, then reads without strain: it is the same thing said from the other end. Who am I — Brahman, not the body; what is mine — nothing.