Upanishads · Mahā 5.102
॥
Devanāgarī
नास्तमेति न चोदेति नोत्तिष्ठति न तिष्ठति न च याति न चायाति न च नेह न चेह चित्
Transliteration (IAST)
nāstameti na codeti nottiṣṭhati na tiṣṭhati na ca yāti na cāyāti na ca neha na ceha cit
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न अस्तम् एतिna astam etiit does not set; it does not go down
न च उदेतिna ca udetinor does it rise; nor does it come up
न उत्तिष्ठति न तिष्ठतिna uttiṣṭhati na tiṣṭhatiit neither gets up nor stands; it neither rises to its feet nor abides
न च यातिna ca yātiit does not go; it does not depart
न च आयातिna ca āyātinor does it come; nor does it arrive
न च न इहna ca na ihaand not “not here”; and not “not in this place”
न च इह चित्na ca iha citand not “here” — consciousness; and not “in this place” — awareness
Translation
“It neither sets nor rises, neither gets up nor stands, neither goes nor comes; and it is neither ‘not here’ nor ‘here’ — such is consciousness.”
Version
6083b93a5268 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Eight negations, paired opposites, and all of motion and place.
Rising and setting. Getting up and standing. Going and coming. And finally — “not here” and “here”.
The last pair is the hardest and the most exact. What is denied is not only presence in a definite place, but absence too.
This repeats 2.64, where the bodilessly liberated is described with the very same verbs: he does not rise, does not set, is not quenched.
Note that all the negations are taken from the vocabulary of luminaries and travellers. We cannot speak of the existent otherwise: it is either somewhere or moving.
Consciousness fits under none of these.
And further: eight negations in a row is a device, not helplessness. So are all the exits closed.