Upanishads · Mahā 4.82
॥
Devanāgarī
अनात्मतां परित्यज्य निर्विकारौ जगत्स्थितौ एकनिष्ठतयान्तस्थः संविन्मात्रपरो भव
Transliteration (IAST)
anātmatāṃ parityajya nirvikārau jagatsthitau ekaniṣṭhatayāntasthaḥ saṃvinmātraparo bhava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अनात्मताम् परित्यज्यanātmatām parityajyahaving relinquished non-Ātman-ness; having cast off belonging to the not-self
निर्विकारौ जगत्-स्थितौnirvikārau jagat-sthitauunchanging while the world stands; not subject to alteration while the world remains
एक-निष्ठतया अन्तः-स्थःeka-niṣṭhatayā antaḥ-sthaḥabiding within with single devotion; settled inside with undivided fidelity
संविन्-मात्र-परः भवsaṃvin-mātra-paraḥ bhavabe given over to consciousness alone; be intent upon nothing but awareness
Translation
“Having relinquished all belonging to the non-Ātman, unchanging while the world stands, abiding within with single devotion — be given over to consciousness alone.”
Version
7a541e1ce7d6 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An order, and in it stands one word not yet met in this chapter: eka-niṣṭhatā — “single devotion, undividedness”.
Niṣṭhā means “standing upon something, fidelity, devotion”. A word from the vocabulary not of detached contemplation but of attachment.
Note too the turn jagat-sthitau nirvikāraḥ — “unchanging while the world stands”. That is, the world stands and goes on standing; it is not the world that changes.
This is again what was said in 4.10 and 4.53: not the removal of the world, but non-participation in its rocking.
And the last: saṃvin-mātra-paraḥ, “given over to consciousness alone”. The word para means both “highest” and “devoted to something”. The second sense is the nearer here.
The result is an instruction not contemplative but of the heart: hold to one.