Upanishads · Mahā 6.69
॥
Devanāgarī
त्यक्ताहंकृतिराश्वस्तमतिराकाशशोभनः अगृहीतकलङ्काङ्को लोके विहर शुद्धधीः
Transliteration (IAST)
tyaktāhaṃkṛtirāśvastamatirākāśaśobhanaḥ agṛhītakalaṅkāṅko loke vihara śuddhadhīḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्यक्त-अहङ्कृतिः आश्वस्तtyakta-ahaṅkṛtiḥ āśvastahaving left selfhood, reassured; having cast off self-sense, heartened
मतिः आकाश-शोभनःmatiḥ ākāśa-śobhanaḥin mind, beautiful as the sky; in understanding, fair as the firmament
अगृहीत-कलङ्क-अङ्कःagṛhīta-kalaṅka-aṅkaḥhaving taken on no brand of stain; not having received the stamp of blemish
लोके विहर शुद्ध-धीःloke vihara śuddha-dhīḥwander the world with a pure reason; roam the world with stainless understanding
Translation
“Having left selfhood, reassured in mind, beautiful as the sky, having taken on no brand of stain — wander the world with a pure reason.”
Version
f6787bbd69ec · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The last of the four refrain-verses, and in it an expression worth attention: agṛhīta-kalaṅka-aṅka — “not having taken on the brand of stain”.
The word aṅka means “brand, mark, stamp”.
Note the verb agṛhīta — “not taken”. Not “washed off”, but precisely not taken.
That is, the stain does not stick to him not because he scrubs it away, but because he does not take it up.
This echoes 2.48 and 4.66: he is not stained, like the lotus leaf.
Ākāśa-śobhana — “beautiful as the sky”. The beauty ascribed to the sky is that spoken of in 5.52: the blueness that is not there and is beautiful.
The four verses are done. All four send the man into the world.