Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 2.18
॥
Devanāgarī
शान्तिमेति । मनःशुद्धिमेति । सर्वतीर्थफलं लभते । य एवं वेद । देहबन्धाद्विमुच्यते । इत्येवोपनिषत्
Transliteration (IAST)
śāntimeti | manaḥśuddhimeti | sarvatīrthaphalaṃ labhate | ya evaṃ veda | dehabandhādvimucyate | ityevopaniṣat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शान्तिम् एति मनः-शुद्धिम् एतिśāntim eti manaḥ-śuddhim etiattains peace, attains purity of mind
सर्व-तीर्थ-फलं लभतेsarva-tīrtha-phalaṃ labhateobtains the fruit of all holy fords
यः एवं वेदyaḥ evaṃ vedawho thus knows
देह-बन्धात् विमुच्यतेdeha-bandhāt vimucyateis released from the bondage of the body
Translation
"Attains peace, attains purity of mind, obtains the fruit of all holy fords — who thus knows; is released from the bondage of the body. Such is the upaniṣad."
Version
1ea3cb2d4961 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The book ends, and it is worth noting the order of the promises: śāntim eti, "attains peace," and manaḥ-śuddhim eti, "attains purity of mind." This order is unusual: ordinarily purification comes first, then peace. Here peace is placed first; and, to my mind, this is truer to experience. The mind is clouded by agitation, and purity does not come before it has settled.
Let us now look back over the whole book and say what is in it. It consists of two parts, different in character. The first — twenty-five verses, where the whole story of Kṛṣṇa is read as a teaching: Nanda is bliss, Kaṃsa is the age of kali, Kuvalayāpīḍa is pride, the flute is Rudra.
The second — prose on Saṅkarṣaṇa and the fourfold arrangement, on the descents and the inner ruler. The finest things in the first part are three passages. 1.1 — the sages ask Rāma for an embrace, and He refuses out of faithfulness to His vow, promising fulfillment in another birth; and in asking they ask for anyonya-vigraham, "a separate body," that is, difference, not merging. 1.12 — kṛṣṇo brahmaiva śāśvatam, "Kṛṣṇa is the eternal brahman," and the direction of identification runs from the impersonal to the person, not the reverse. 1.25 — na bhinnaṃ na abhinnam, "neither different nor non-different," that is, acintya-bheda-abheda, stated by the upaniṣad itself.
The finest in the second is 2.11, where antaryāmin is named; and the examination of the Antaryāmi-brāhmaṇa of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (3.7.22), where it is said of Him that He is different from the self, is unknown by the self, and has it as His body. Three definitions in a row, each establishing difference. There is also something we have disagreed with: 2.8, where the establishment of caste codes is attributed to a descent; and the usual excessive promises of phala-śruti.
The chief thing about the book, however, is that it is an interpretation of the story, not a replacement for it. Everything in it is called something else — and not once is it said that what happened did not happen; and in this, to my mind, it holds fast where such compositions usually falter.