Upanishads · Mahā 4.124
॥
Devanāgarī
कृशोऽहं दुःखबद्धोऽहं हस्तपादादिमानहम् इति भावानुरूपेण व्यवहारेण बध्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
kṛśo'haṃ duḥkhabaddho'haṃ hastapādādimānaham iti bhāvānurūpeṇa vyavahāreṇa badhyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कृशः अहम् दुःख-बद्धः अहम्kṛśaḥ aham duḥkha-baddhaḥ ahamI am thin, I am bound by suffering; I am gaunt, I am fettered by sorrow
हस्त-पाद-आदि-मान् अहम्hasta-pāda-ādi-mān ahamI am the owner of hands, feet and the rest; I am possessed of hands, feet and so on
इति भाव-अनुरूपेणiti bhāva-anurūpeṇathus, conformably to the notion; in this way, according to the mood
व्यवहारेण बध्यतेvyavahāreṇa badhyateby usage one is bound; through one's dealings one comes to be tied
Translation
“‘I am thin’, ‘I am bound by suffering’, ‘I am he who has hands and feet’ — thus, conformably to his notion, a man is bound by his own daily usage.”
Version
bbf6dd8635ab · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An example for the previous verse, and the example is taken from the most everyday speech.
Three phrases everyone utters ten times a day. I have grown thin. It is hard for me. My hand hurts.
In them is the design “I am not Brahman” — not as a conviction, but as a way of speaking.
The word vyavahāra means “usage, dealing, everyday intercourse”. It is not philosophy that binds, but speech and habit.
This observation is worth taking to oneself. We rarely think “I am the body”; we simply speak and act as if it were obvious, and from this the coupling is stronger than any conviction.
Note too bhāva-anurūpeṇa — “conformably to the notion”. Usage is not bad in itself; it reflects what is within, and at the same time strengthens that within.