Upanishads · Mahā 4.81
॥
Devanāgarī
भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशयाः क्षीयन्ते चास्य कर्माणि तस्मिन्दृष्टे परावरे
Transliteration (IAST)
bhidyate hṛdayagranthiśchidyante sarvasaṃśayāḥ kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi tasmindṛṣṭe parāvare
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भिद्यते हृदय-ग्रन्थिःbhidyate hṛdaya-granthiḥthe knot of the heart is cleft; the heart's knot is hewn apart
छिद्यन्ते सर्व-संशयाःchidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥall doubts are cut asunder; all waverings are dispelled
क्षीयन्ते च अस्य कर्माणिkṣīyante ca asya karmāṇiand his deeds waste away; and his doings are exhausted
तस्मिन् दृष्टे पर-अवरेtasmin dṛṣṭe para-avarewhen He is seen, the higher and the lower; when That is beheld which is both the high and the low
Translation
“The knot of the heart is cleft, all doubts are cut asunder, and his deeds waste away — when He is seen who is the higher and the lower.”
Version
80ca3d03e8cc · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The verse is taken word for word from the Muṇḍaka (2.2.8) and is counted among the most famous in the Upaniṣads.
Three consequences, and they are ranged exactly.
Hṛdaya-granthi, “the knot of the heart”, is that very entanglement by which spirit is tied to matter; the knot of “I am this”. It is not untied but bhidyate — “cleft”.
The doubts are not answered one by one but chidyante, “cut off” at a stroke. He who has seen ceases to ask, not because he received answers, but because the questioner fell away.
And karmāṇi kṣīyante — “the deeds waste away”: the store of consequences that held one in the round ceases to bear fruit.
Note especially the last word: parāvare — “the higher and the lower”. He who is seen is both. Not only the transcendent, but also the near.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa cites this verse in the Govinda-bhāṣya when examining what the vision of the Highest gives; and there it is noted that “the deeds waste away” refers to what is stored up, not to what has already begun to fructify — the body lives out its term.