Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 4.62
॥
Devanāgarī
अशरीरं शरीरेषु महान्तं विभुमीश्वरम् । आनन्दमक्षरं साक्षान्मत्वा धीरो न शोचति
Transliteration (IAST)
aśarīraṃ śarīreṣu mahāntaṃ vibhumīśvaram | ānandamakṣaraṃ sākṣānmatvā dhīro na śocati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अ-शरीरं शरीरेषुa-śarīraṃ śarīreṣuthe bodiless in bodies
महान्तं विभुम् ईश्वरम्mahāntaṃ vibhum īśvaramthe great, all-pervading Lord
आनन्दम् अक्षरं साक्षात्ānandam akṣaraṃ sākṣātbliss, imperishable, directly
मत्वा धीरः न शोचतिmatvā dhīraḥ na śocatihaving understood, the steadfast one does not grieve
Translation
"Having directly understood the bodiless in bodies, the great, all-pervading Lord, bliss, imperishable, — the steadfast one does not grieve."
Version
f65a6c7b4f55 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
This line is taken almost verbatim from the Katha: ashariram sharireshv anavastheshv avasthitam, mahantam vibhum atmanam matva dhiro na shochati — "having understood the bodiless in bodies, the constant among the inconstant, the great, all-pervading Atman, the steadfast one does not grieve" (1.2.22). This borrowing deserves noting, because in the Katha it is followed by a verse this book does not cite; and it is the most famous in the whole Upanishadic literature, and settles more than everything preceding it. Here it is: nayam atma pravachanena labhyo na medhaya na bahuna shrutena, yam evaisha vrinute tena labhyas tasyaisha atma vivrinute tanum svam — "This Atman is not attained by exposition, nor by intellect, nor by much hearing; whomever He chooses, by him is He attained; to that one this Atman reveals his own form" (Katha 1.2.23).
Let us examine it, for every word here matters. Three means are rejected, and all three are our own efforts: exposition (that is, learning), intellect (that is, capacity), much hearing (that is, wide reading). Not one of them attains.
Then it is said: yam eva esha vrinute, "whom He chooses." The verb vri means "to choose, to prefer"; and its subject is He, not I. And finally: tasya esha atma vivrinute tanum svam, "to that one He reveals His own form." The word tanum, "body, form," stands in the accusative; and what is revealed is not formlessness, but form.
The Vaishnava side holds this verse as one of its central grounds, and it is worth understanding why. It contains all three of its positions at once: effort is insufficient, His choice decides, and a form is revealed. Let us add that this verse stands in the Katha one line after the one cited here; and the compiler of our book, having taken the first, did not take the second.