Upanishads · Mahā 6.7
॥
Devanāgarī
वासनां वासितारं च प्राणस्पन्दनपूर्वकम् समूलमखिलं त्यक्त्वा व्योमसाम्यः प्रशान्तधीः
Transliteration (IAST)
vāsanāṃ vāsitāraṃ ca prāṇaspandanapūrvakam samūlamakhilaṃ tyaktvā vyomasāmyaḥ praśāntadhīḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वासनाम् वासितारम् चvāsanām vāsitāram cathe vāsanā and him whom it has steeped; the inclination and the one soaked in it
प्राण-स्पन्दन-पूर्वकम्prāṇa-spandana-pūrvakamtogether with the throbbing of the breath; along with the pulsation of the life-air
स-मूलम् अखिलम् त्यक्त्वाsa-mūlam akhilam tyaktvāleaving all of it, root and branch; having renounced the whole of it to the root
व्योम-साम्यः प्रशान्त-धीःvyoma-sāmyaḥ praśānta-dhīḥequal to the sky, with reason stilled; become like the firmament, with understanding pacified
Translation
“Leaving all root and branch — the vāsanā, and him whom it has steeped, together with the throbbing of the breath — he becomes equal to the sky, his reason stilled.”
Version
e89b18da0945 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
What is left is not only the inclination but the vāsitṛ — “the one steeped in it”.
That is the meaning of sa-mūlam, “with the root”. While the bearer is intact, the inclination will grow back.
Note prāṇa-spandana — “the throbbing of the breath”. It is mentioned for the first time in the whole book.
In the yogic teachings breath and mind are linked: the one grows still — so does the other. Here the breath is named in one row with the vāsanās as also to be left.
This is no call to hold the breath. The word spandana — “throb, beating” — is the very one by which the mind's nature was described (4.99).
What is left is the restlessness, not the air.
Vyoma-sāmya — “equal to the sky”. The first positive attribute in this series: not emptiness, but expanse.