Upanishads · Mahā 4.90
॥
Devanāgarī
असंकल्पनशस्त्रेण छिन्नं चित्तमिदं यदा सर्वं सर्वगतं शान्तं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा
Transliteration (IAST)
asaṃkalpanaśastreṇa chinnaṃ cittamidaṃ yadā sarvaṃ sarvagataṃ śāntaṃ brahma sampadyate tadā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
असङ्कल्पन-शस्त्रेणasaṅkalpana-śastreṇawith the weapon of non-designing; with the sword of the absence of intents
छिन्नम् चित्तम् इदम् यदाchinnam cittam idam yadāwhen this mind is cut asunder; when this consciousness is severed
सर्वम् सर्व-गतम् शान्तम्sarvam sarva-gatam śāntamthe all, omnipresent, stilled; everything, all-pervading, pacified
ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदाbrahma sampadyate tadāBrahman is then attained; Brahman is then achieved
Translation
“When this mind is cut asunder with the weapon of non-designing, then Brahman is attained — the all, omnipresent, stilled.”
Version
ccc7542a4bd4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of a weapon, and the weapon is named: asaṅkalpana — “non-designing”.
Note the design. Against the mind, which is designing (4.51), is set not another designing but its absence.
This is important. The mind cannot be defeated by the mind: every design to overcome the mind is a new design, that is, a new mind.
Therefore the weapon is an absence. The mind is cut asunder by there being nothing for it to do.
The word śastra — “sword, weapon” — and chinna, “cut asunder”: the language of war. There is no softness in this: non-designing is not relaxation but an act, and it demands strength.
Note the list of Brahman's attributes in the last line: sarvam, “the all” — the same word as in 4.55. Not “something instead of everything”, but everything.