Upanishads · Mahā 4.125
॥
Devanāgarī
नाहं दुःखी न मे देहो बन्धः कोऽस्यात्मनि स्थितः इति भावानुरूपेण व्यवहारेण मुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
nāhaṃ duḥkhī na me deho bandhaḥ ko'syātmani sthitaḥ iti bhāvānurūpeṇa vyavahāreṇa mucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न अहम् दुःखीna aham duḥkhīI am no sufferer; I am not one who suffers
न मे देहःna me dehaḥthe body is not mine; the body does not belong to me
बन्धः कः अस्य आत्मनि स्थितःbandhaḥ kaḥ asya ātmani sthitaḥwhat bond abides in this Ātman; what fetters have settled in this self
इति भाव-अनुरूपेणiti bhāva-anurūpeṇathus, conformably to the notion; in this way, according to the mood
व्यवहारेण मुच्यतेvyavahāreṇa mucyateby usage one is freed; through one's dealings one gains freedom
Translation
“‘I am no sufferer, the body is not mine; what bond abides in this Ātman?’ — thus, conformably to his notion, a man is freed by his own daily usage.”
Version
74dbfe642e2c · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The reverse example, and built the same way: not by reasoning but by a way of speaking.
Three turns. “I am no sufferer.” “The body is not mine.” And the question: “what fetters are in the Ātman?”.
Note that the second of them — na me dehaḥ — repeats exactly the word of 4.71: not “I am not the body”, but “the body is not mine”.
Again the distinction between “I” and “mine”, and it is more exact than the usual. What is denied is neither the body's existence nor one's own, but the belonging.
And the third turn is interrogative. Not the assertion “I am free”, but the question “where are the bonds here?”. Freedom is not proclaimed; it is searched for and not found.
The word vyavahāra is repeated deliberately. By the same usage with which men were bound, they are unbound. The instrument is one (4.122–4.123).