Upanishads · Mahā 5.40
॥
Devanāgarī
सदेहा वाप्यदेहा वा ते मुक्ता नात्र संशयः ज्ञप्तिर्हि ग्रन्थिविच्छेदस्तस्मिन्सति विमुक्तता
Transliteration (IAST)
sadehā vāpyadehā vā te muktā nātra saṃśayaḥ jñaptirhi granthivicchedastasminsati vimuktatā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स-देहाः वा अपि अ-देहाः वाsa-dehāḥ vā api a-dehāḥ vāwhether with body or without body; in the body as well as bodiless
ते मुक्ताः न अत्र संशयःte muktāḥ na atra saṃśayaḥthey are freed — herein is no doubt; they are delivered; of that there is no doubt
ज्ञप्तिः हि ग्रन्थि-विच्छेदःjñaptiḥ hi granthi-vicchedaḥfor knowing is the cleaving of the knot; since understanding is the severing of the knot
तस्मिन् सति विमुक्तताtasmin sati vimuktatāwhere it is, there is release; so soon as it exists — freedom
Translation
“…whether with body or without, they are freed — of this there is no doubt; for knowing is the cleaving of the knot, and where it is, there is release.”
Version
999bef76563a · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The completion of the thought, and it is decisive: na atra saṃśayaḥ — “of this there is no doubt”.
Beasts and foreigners who have reached this state are free — “with body or without”, that is, regardless of the shape they are in.
The ground is given in one line: jñaptir hi granthi-viccheda — “knowing is the cleaving of the knot”.
A direct reference to the Muṇḍaka, cited in 4.81: “the knot of the heart is cleft”.
The logic is this. Freedom is no reward issued by rank; it is the consequence of the knot's being cleft. Cleft — therefore free, and no circumstances of birth add or subtract anything here.
Note how this stands with the stern passage of the Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī, where Vedic mantras are forbidden to women and śūdras. There the matter is the right to the rite; here, the state. The one neither cancels nor replaces the other: a rite can be forbidden; the knot is not untied by permission.