Upanishads · Mahā 4.93
॥
Devanāgarī
मनो मारय निःशङ्कं त्वां प्रबध्नन्ति नारयः
Transliteration (IAST)
mano māraya niḥśaṅkaṃ tvāṃ prabadhnanti nārayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मनः मारय निःशङ्कम्manaḥ māraya niḥśaṅkamslay the mind without hesitation; put consciousness to death without misgiving
त्वाम् प्रबध्नन्ति न अरयःtvām prabadhnanti na arayaḥthe enemies shall not bind thee; the foes will not fetter thee
Translation
“Slay the mind without hesitation — and the enemies shall not bind thee.”
Version
7ced859fbcac · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A half-verse, and in it the sharpest word of the chapter: māraya — “slay”.
After so many verses on treating the mind, suddenly the order is to kill it.
There is no contradiction, if one remembers the definitions. The mind is designing (4.51); no design — no mind. “To slay the mind” means exactly the same as “to cease designing”, and no mutilation is implied.
The word niḥśaṅkam — “without misgiving, without hesitation” — is set there because hesitation here is natural: one is loath. The mind is the only thing we always have about us.
And the promise: arayaḥ na prabadhnanti — “the enemies shall not bind”.
Who these enemies are the book does not explain, and rightly. The third chapter listed them: craving, lust, anger, fear. All of them enter through the mind and are held by it. No mind — no entrance.