Upanishads · Mahā 6.44
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वं समतया बुद्ध्या यः कृत्वा वासनाक्षयम् जहाति निर्ममो देहं नेयोऽसौ वासनाक्षयः
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvaṃ samatayā buddhyā yaḥ kṛtvā vāsanākṣayam jahāti nirmamo dehaṃ neyo'sau vāsanākṣayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्वम् समतया बुद्ध्याsarvam samatayā buddhyāeverything with an even reason; all things with an equal understanding
यः कृत्वा वासना-क्षयम्yaḥ kṛtvā vāsanā-kṣayamwho, having wrought the wasting of vāsanās; whoever, having accomplished the exhaustion of inclinations
जहाति निर्ममः देहम्jahāti nirmamaḥ dehamleaves the body without the sense of “mine”; quits the frame, a stranger to the feeling of “mine”
नेयः असौ वासना-क्षयःneyaḥ asau vāsanā-kṣayaḥhe is to be known as the wasting of vāsanās; he it is who must be acknowledged the exhaustion of inclinations
Translation
“Who with an even reason, having wrought the wasting of the vāsanās, leaves the body without the sense of ‘mine’ — he is to be known as the wasting of vāsanās.”
Version
d9cc476d3a7f · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse gives a test, and this test is the last: how a man leaves the body.
Nirmamaḥ — “without the sense of ‘mine’”. The very word of 4.71.
Note that what is tested is not the death but the parting. The word jahāti — “he quits, leaves” — is the one used of a house left behind.
This is the final answer to whether the vāsanās are spent. While the body is one's own, it will not be released.
Samatayā buddhyā — “with an even reason”. The evenness spoken of in the chapter's first verses (6.2–6.4) proves needed exactly here.
And neyaḥ — “is to be known”. The book states the measure by which to judge.