Upanishads · Mahā 4.121
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मिन्नित्ये तते शुद्धे चिन्मात्रे निरुपद्रवे शान्ते शमसमाभोगे निर्विकारे चिदात्मनि
Transliteration (IAST)
tasminnitye tate śuddhe cinmātre nirupadrave śānte śamasamābhoge nirvikāre cidātmani
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्मिन् नित्ये तते शुद्धेtasmin nitye tate śuddhein that eternal, outspread, pure one; in the everlasting, extended, immaculate one
चित्-मात्रे निरुपद्रवेcit-mātre nirupadravein consciousness alone, free of calamity; in mere awareness, foreign to misfortunes
शान्ते शम-सम-आभोगेśānte śama-sama-ābhogestilled, whose plenitude is even peace; pacified, whose abundance is level stillness
निर्विकारे चित्-आत्मनिnirvikāre cit-ātmanichangeless, whose essence is consciousness; unmutable, whose nature is awareness
Translation
“In that eternal, outspread, pure, calamity-free consciousness alone — stilled, whose plenitude is even peace, changeless, whose essence is consciousness…”
Version
32ca0d70e136 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse consists of attributes alone and serves as the approach to the next; they must be read together.
From the list two expressions deserve taking.
Nirupadrava — “without calamities, without mishaps”. Upadrava means “a raid, a misfortune, a complication”. There, nothing happens.
Śama-sama-ābhoga — “whose abundance is even peace”. The word ābhoga means “fullness, abundance, breadth”. That is, peace is named not an absence but a wealth.
This is essential after so many negations. The silence in question is no empty room, but a fullness in which nothing is needed.
Note too tata — “outspread, stretched”. By the same word in 3.4 the “outspread filth of the round” was named. The word is one, but different things are outspread; and this again reminds us that the world and He are not two different canvases.