Upanishads · Mahā 6.39
॥
Devanāgarī
रज्जुबद्धा विमुच्यन्ते तृष्णाबद्धा न केनचित् तस्मान्निदाघ तृष्णा त्वं त्यज संकल्पवर्जनात्
Transliteration (IAST)
rajjubaddhā vimucyante tṛṣṇābaddhā na kenacit tasmānnidāgha tṛṣṇā tvaṃ tyaja saṃkalpavarjanāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रज्जु-बद्धाः विमुच्यन्तेrajju-baddhāḥ vimucyantethose bound with rope are set free; the ones tied with cord are released
तृष्णा-बद्धाः न केनचित्tṛṣṇā-baddhāḥ na kenacitthose bound by craving — by no one; the ones fettered by thirst — by nobody
तस्मात् निदाघ तृष्णाम् त्वम्tasmāt nidāgha tṛṣṇām tvamtherefore, Nidāgha, craving thou; hence, O Nidāgha, the thirst
त्यज सङ्कल्प-वर्जनात्tyaja saṅkalpa-varjanātleave, by the renouncing of design; abandon, through the giving up of intent
Translation
“Those bound with rope are set free; those bound by craving — by no one. Therefore, Nidāgha, leave craving by renouncing design.”
Version
3e356d7c7bdd · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A simple and irresistible argument.
A rope another can untie. Craving — no one.
Note na kenacit — “by no one”. Neither by a teacher, nor by grace, nor by circumstances.
This, however, does not contradict 4.76, where without the teacher's mercy nothing is granted. The one concerns him who shows the way; the other, him who walks it.
One cannot untie a man's craving for him, as one cannot eat for him.
And the means is named: saṅkalpa-varjanāt — “by renouncing design”.
This is the book's last word on craving, and it returns to where everything began: what binds is not the object, but one's own “let it be so” (2.70).