Upanishads · Mahā 6.50
॥
Devanāgarī
बाह्यार्थवासनोद्भूता तृष्णा बद्धेति कथ्यते सर्वार्थवासनोन्मुक्ता तृष्णा मुक्तेति भण्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
bāhyārthavāsanodbhūtā tṛṣṇā baddheti kathyate sarvārthavāsanonmuktā tṛṣṇā mukteti bhaṇyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बाह्य-अर्थ-वासना-उद्भूताbāhya-artha-vāsanā-udbhūtāborn of the inclination to outer things; sprung from the leaning toward the external
तृष्णा बद्धा इति कथ्यतेtṛṣṇā baddhā iti kathyatecraving is called bound; thirst is named the fettered one
सर्व-अर्थ-वासना-उन्मुक्ताsarva-artha-vāsanā-unmuktāfreed of the inclination to all things; released from the leaning toward everything objective
तृष्णा मुक्ता इति भण्यतेtṛṣṇā muktā iti bhaṇyatecraving is called free; thirst is named the free one
Translation
“Craving born of the inclination to outer things is called bound; craving freed of the inclination to all things is called free.”
Version
2f285e7bb93f · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An unexpected verse: craving, it turns out, can be free.
Till now tṛṣṇā in this book was an unconditional enemy — the mouse, the monkey, the bee, the cholera (3.22–3.26).
Here it is divided in two, as in 5.89–5.92 selfhood was divided.
Note the design: the difference is not in the craving's strength but in whether it is tied to objects.
Craving without an object — what is that? A pull without a target, an urge that knows not what it wants.
Vaiṣṇava letters know such a state and prize it above all: the thirst that wants nothing in the world and is therefore free to turn where it belongs.
This agrees with 4.61, where in the place of thinned attractions rises rati — an attraction of another kind.