Upanishads · Avadhūta 26
॥
Devanāgarī
कृतकृत्यतया तृप्तः प्राप्तप्राप्यतया पुनः । तृप्यन्नेवं स्वमनसा मन्यतेसौ निरन्तरम्
Transliteration (IAST)
kṛtakṛtyatayā tṛptaḥ prāptaprāpyatayā punaḥ | tṛpyannevaṃ svamanasā manyatesau nirantaram
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कृत-कृत्य-तया तृप्तःkṛta-kṛtya-tayā tṛptaḥsatisfied by the accomplishment of duty
प्राप्त-प्राप्य-तया पुनःprāpta-prāpya-tayā punaḥand again by the attainment of what was to be attained
तृप्यन् एवं स्व-मनसाtṛpyan evaṃ sva-manasābeing thus satisfied, with his own mind
मन्यते असौ निरन्तरम्manyate asau nirantaramhe thinks unceasingly
Translation
Satisfied by the accomplishment of duty, and again by the attainment of what was to be attained — being thus satisfied, he thinks unceasingly with his own mind…
Version
8058cac8ad8c · published Aug 6, 2026, 4:24:37 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
This line serves as an introduction to what follows: six lines of jubilation. Look at the phrase sva-manasā manyate, "thinks with his own mind." It was just said that distraction and concentration belong to the mind, not to him; and here he thinks — and thinks with the mind, and thinks nirantaram, "unceasingly."
There is no contradiction, if one remembers what was said in line 18: the dealing proceeds by habit. The mind works; and what it now repeats unceasingly is no longer worry, but gratitude. This shift, to my mind, is the most reliable description of what happens to a person. The mind does not stop — it changes its object; and instead of a list of worries, a list of thanks runs through it.
The Vaiṣṇava reading coincides fully with such a description. In the Vaiṣṇava tradition this is called smaraṇa, "remembrance," and it is insisted that it is not an effort: one whose heart is full has a mind that returns to the same thing of itself. And note that the following six lines do not argue, but exclaim; and this is the best testimony that it is a person speaking, not a doctrine.