Upanishads · Mahā 5.3
॥
Devanāgarī
शुद्धसन्मात्रसंवित्तेः स्वरूपान्न चलन्ति ये रागद्वेषादयो भावास्तेषां नाज्ञत्वसंभवः
Transliteration (IAST)
śuddhasanmātrasaṃvitteḥ svarūpānna calanti ye rāgadveṣādayo bhāvāsteṣāṃ nājñatvasaṃbhavaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शुद्ध-सत्-मात्र-संवित्तेःśuddha-sat-mātra-saṃvitteḥfrom the awareness of pure being alone; from the unalloyed consciousness of the one existent
स्वरूपात् न चलन्ति येsvarūpāt na calanti yewho do not stray from their own nature; which do not depart from the proper essence
राग-द्वेष-आदयः भावाःrāga-dveṣa-ādayaḥ bhāvāḥattraction, aversion and the other states; liking, disliking and the like dispositions
तेषाम् न अज्ञत्व-सम्भवःteṣām na ajñatva-sambhavaḥfor them no ignorance can arise; for such, the state of unknowing is impossible
Translation
“In whom attraction, aversion and the other states do not stray from their own nature — from the pure awareness of being alone — in them ignorance cannot arise.”
Version
7e7a93d99795 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An unexpected verse, and it deserves careful reading.
It does not say that the knower has no attraction and aversion. It says that in him these states “do not stray from their own nature”.
That is, the passions exist, but they do not carry the man out of himself — in the literal sense: they do not lead him out of the svarūpa.
This is far more sober than the usual demand to “eradicate the passions”. Almost no one has ever eradicated them to the end; to hold oneself amid them is a feasible task.
The phrase śuddha-sat-mātra-saṃvitti — “the pure awareness of being alone”. One's own nature is named through consciousness, not through properties.
Recall 5.2: freedom is abiding in one's own nature. Here it is said what does not hinder that abiding: not the soul's movements themselves, but the being carried away by them.