Upanishads · Mahā 6.67
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्तःसंत्यक्तसर्वाशो वीतरागो विवासनः बहिःसर्वसमाचारो लोके विहर विज्वरः
Transliteration (IAST)
antaḥsaṃtyaktasarvāśo vītarāgo vivāsanaḥ bahiḥsarvasamācāro loke vihara vijvaraḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अन्तः-संत्यक्त-सर्व-आशःantaḥ-saṃtyakta-sarva-āśaḥwithin, having left all expectations; inwardly having renounced every hope
वीत-रागः विवासनःvīta-rāgaḥ vivāsanaḥpassionless, without vāsanās; void of fondness, free of inclinations
बहिः सर्व-समाचारःbahiḥ sarva-samācāraḥoutwardly conforming to every usage; on the outside following every custom
लोके विहर विज्वरःloke vihara vijvaraḥwander the world without fever; roam the world free of the burning
Translation
“Within, having left all expectations, passionless and without vāsanās; outwardly conforming to every usage — wander the world without fever.”
Version
bfcaca98397e · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse gives a rule everyone should remember: free within, like everyone without.
Bahiḥ sarva-samācāraḥ — “outwardly in everything by custom”.
This repeats 5.38 and 5.177: they keep the observance, they follow it all.
Note that the order is precisely this and not the reverse. Outside — the custom; inside — the freedom. Not the other way round.
The reverse — outward transgression with inward unfreedom — the book nowhere approves; on the contrary, 4.68 makes moral conduct the first condition.
The Vaiṣṇava tradition says the same in almost the same words: within, be like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī; without, behave like everyone.
And that is the thing invisible from outside which alone matters.