Upanishads · Mahā 5.182
॥
Devanāgarī
मा संकल्पय संकल्पं मा भावं भावय स्थितौ संकल्पनाशने यत्तो न भूयोऽननुगच्छति
Transliteration (IAST)
mā saṃkalpaya saṃkalpaṃ mā bhāvaṃ bhāvaya sthitau saṃkalpanāśane yatto na bhūyo'nanugacchati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मा सङ्कल्पय सङ्कल्पम्mā saṅkalpaya saṅkalpamdo not design a design; do not devise an intent
मा भावम् भावय स्थितौmā bhāvam bhāvaya sthitaudo not contemplate a state, in thy standing; do not nurture a disposition, in thine abiding
सङ्कल्प-नाशने यत्तःsaṅkalpa-nāśane yattaḥhe who strives at the destroying of design; one diligent in the extermination of intent
न भूयः अनुगच्छतिna bhūyaḥ anugacchatino longer follows after it; goes after it no more
Translation
“Do not design a design; do not contemplate a state; he who strives at the destroying of design no longer follows after it.”
Version
e645c1fef144 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two prohibitions, both imperative.
Mā saṅkalpaya saṅkalpam — “do not design a design”. The turn is the same as in the previous verse: not “do not design about things”, but “do not design the designing itself”.
So what is forbidden is not the content but the act.
Mā bhāvaṃ bhāvaya — “do not contemplate a state”. The same device with the same root.
Note the word yattaḥ — “diligent, striving”. The work is named a diligence, not an instantaneous decision.
And the promise: na bhūyo'nugacchati — “he no longer follows after it”.
The verb anugacchati — “goes after”. The design does not drag; it walks ahead, and we walk behind it of our own will.
To stop walking behind — that is all that is required.