Upanishads · Mahā 4.115
॥
Devanāgarī
इच्छामात्रमविद्येयं तन्नाशो मोक्ष उच्यते स चासंकल्पमात्रेण सिद्धो भवति वै मुने
Transliteration (IAST)
icchāmātramavidyeyaṃ tannāśo mokṣa ucyate sa cāsaṃkalpamātreṇa siddho bhavati vai mune
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इच्छा-मात्रम् अविद्या इयम्icchā-mātram avidyā iyamthis ignorance is desire alone; this unknowing is nothing but a wanting
तत्-नाशः मोक्षः उच्यतेtat-nāśaḥ mokṣaḥ ucyateits death is called liberation; its extermination is named deliverance
सः च असङ्कल्प-मात्रेणsaḥ ca asaṅkalpa-mātreṇaand it — by mere non-designing; and it, solely through intentlessness
सिद्धः भवति वै मुनेsiddhaḥ bhavati vai muneis accomplished indeed, O sage; proves to be achieved, O silent one
Translation
“This ignorance is desire alone; its death is called liberation, and it is accomplished, O sage, by mere non-designing.”
Version
04d508786d00 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The definition is carried to its limit: avidyā is icchā-mātra — “desire alone”.
Not an error of the mind and not a lack of information. A wanting.
This is the last link in the chain the book has been building: the mind is designing (4.51); the mind's restlessness is ignorance and vāsanā (4.101); ignorance is desire.
Everything has converged in one point.
Note how this stands with the previous verse, where liberation began with the desire to behold the Ātman. The difference is in the object: desire turned toward the other is ignorance; desire turned toward Him is the medicine.
This is why the Vaiṣṇava tradition does not fight desire as such, but redirects it. The mortification of the capacity to want has never yet made anyone free; it is taken not by emaciation but by finding the worthy object.