Upanishads · Mahā 4.106
॥
Devanāgarī
मनसैव मनश्छित्त्वा पाशं परमबन्धनम् भवादुत्तारयात्मानं नासावन्येन तार्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
manasaiva manaśchittvā pāśaṃ paramabandhanam bhavāduttārayātmānaṃ nāsāvanyena tāryate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मनसा एव मनः छित्त्वाmanasā eva manaḥ chittvāby the mind itself having cut the mind; with consciousness itself having severed consciousness
पाशम् परम-बन्धनम्pāśam parama-bandhanamthe noose, the supreme fetter; the lasso, the strongest of bonds
भवात् उत्तारय आत्मानम्bhavāt uttāraya ātmānamcarry thyself across becoming; ferry thyself over existence
न असौ अन्येन तार्यतेna asau anyena tāryateit is not crossed by any other means; by no other way is it traversed
Translation
“Having cut with the mind itself the mind — that noose, the strongest of fetters — carry thyself across becoming: by no other means is it crossed.”
Version
14bd57e6fbf2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A repetition of the thought of 4.104 with a new image: the mind as pāśa, “noose, lasso”.
The noose is a weapon that does not strike but captures: it is thrown over and drawn tight. It holds the tighter, the harder you strain.
And it is called parama-bandhana — “the supreme, strongest fetter”. Not one bond among others, but the chief.
The verb uttāraya — “ferry across” — is from the vocabulary of river crossings, and it is the same root that gave the word tīrtha, “a ford, a holy place”.
Note this. Nidāgha went round three and a half crores of tīrthas (3.2), that is, of fords. Here he is told: the crossing is not there; ferry yourself across.
And last: nāsāv anyena tāryate — “it is not crossed otherwise”. By no other means.
This agrees with 4.27, where wealth, friends, austerity and holy places were rejected as means of attainment.