Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 3.33
॥
Devanāgarī
ध्यायन्नास्ते मुनिश्चैवमासुप्तेरामृतेस्तु यः । जीवन्मुक्तः स विज्ञेयः स धन्यः कृतकृत्यवान्
Transliteration (IAST)
dhyāyannāste muniścaivamāsupterāmṛtestu yaḥ | jīvanmuktaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa dhanyaḥ kṛtakṛtyavān
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ध्यायन् आस्ते मुनिः च एवम्dhyāyan āste muniḥ ca evamcontemplating, thus abides the sage
आ-सुप्तेः आ-मृतेः तु यःā-supteḥ ā-mṛteḥ tu yaḥuntil sleep and until death, however, who
जीवन्-मुक्तः सः विज्ञेयःjīvan-muktaḥ saḥ vijñeyaḥliberated while living, he is to be known
सः धन्यः कृत-कृत्य-वान्saḥ dhanyaḥ kṛta-kṛtya-vānhe is blessed, one who has done what was to be done
Translation
"Contemplating thus, until sleep and until death, does the sage abide — he is to be known as liberated while living; he is blessed, one who has done what was to be done".
Version
a10627a8666d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is said a-suptes a-mrites, "until sleep and until death"; and this turn deserves unpacking, for it is excellent. It is said: he contemplates thus until falling asleep and until death — that is, the whole day, as long as he wakes, and his whole life, as long as he lives. This measure is simple and understood by anyone. Not "by the hour," not "three times a day," but — until sleep: that is, until you fall asleep, and so every day to the end.
Worth noting is how this differs from all that was in the first two chapters. There was counting: by tens, with an increment of five, two muhurtas, six months, twelve years. Here there is no count at all; there is the whole day.
The Vaishnava side holds the same measure and expresses it in the same turn. Her famous rule states: smartavyah satatam vishnur vismartavyo na jatu chit, "Vishnu must be remembered constantly and never forgotten" (Padma Purana); and all other rules are declared subordinate to this one. This measure, incidentally, removes the question of quantity. Where one is commanded to remember constantly, the argument about how much to repeat and how long to sit loses meaning: one counts where the measure is a part of the day; where the measure is the whole day, there is nothing to count.
Separately, a word must be said about krita-krityavan, "one who has done what was to be done," literally "one who has done what needed doing." This turn, in Sanskrit, is the highest praise, and applies to a man who has no debts left.