Upanishads · Mahā 4.108
॥
Devanāgarī
भोगैकवासनां त्यक्त्वा त्यज त्वं भेदवासनाम् भावाभावौ ततस्त्यक्त्या निर्विकल्पः सुखी भव
Transliteration (IAST)
bhogaikavāsanāṃ tyaktvā tyaja tvaṃ bhedavāsanām bhāvābhāvau tatastyaktyā nirvikalpaḥ sukhī bhava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भोग-एक-वासनाम् त्यक्त्वाbhoga-eka-vāsanām tyaktvāhaving left the inclination to enjoyments alone; having cast off the leaning toward mere delights
त्यज त्वम् भेद-वासनाम्tyaja tvam bheda-vāsanāmleave thou also the inclination to difference; discard as well the leaning toward division
भाव-अभावौ ततः त्यक्त्वाbhāva-abhāvau tataḥ tyaktvāthen, having left being and non-being; thereafter, having cast off presence and absence
निर्विकल्पः सुखी भवnirvikalpaḥ sukhī bhavabecome free of distinctions and happy; be made a stranger to differentiations and blissful
Translation
“Having left the inclination to enjoyments, leave also the inclination to difference; then, leaving being and non-being, become free of distinctions and happy.”
Version
724a9c80eda3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three steps of renunciation, ranged in ascending order.
The first: bhoga-vāsanā — the inclination to enjoyments. This is what the whole third chapter spoke of.
The second: bheda-vāsanā — the inclination to difference. It is subtler and not visible to everyone as an inclination: dividing into one's own and another's, high and low, spiritual and worldly seems simply sight.
The third: bhāva-abhāva — “being and non-being”. The very pair “is — is not” is released, the last thing the mind holds by.
Note the design: with each step what is released looks less like an attachment and more like self-evidence.
And the conclusion: nirvikalpaḥ sukhī bhava — “become free of distinctions and happy”.
The last word deserves marking. Sukhī — “happy”. Not “liberated”, not “stilled”: simply happy.