Upanishads · Yājñavalkya 14
॥
Devanāgarī
यस्य स्त्री तस्य भोगेच्छा निस्त्रीकस्य क्व भोगभूः । स्त्रियं त्यक्त्वा जगत्त्यक्तं जगत्त्यक्त्वा सुखी भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
yasya strī tasya bhogecchā nistrīkasya kva bhogabhūḥ | striyaṃ tyaktvā jagattyaktaṃ jagattyaktvā sukhī bhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यस्य स्त्री तस्य भोग-इच्छाyasya strī tasya bhoga-icchāone who has a wife has the desire for enjoyment
निस्त्रीकस्य क्व भोग-भूःnistrīkasya kva bhoga-bhūḥfor one without a wife, where is the ground of enjoyment
स्त्रियं त्यक्त्वा जगत् त्यक्तंstriyaṃ tyaktvā jagat tyaktaṃhaving abandoned the wife, the world is abandoned
जगत् त्यक्त्वा सुखी भवेत्jagat tyaktvā sukhī bhavethaving abandoned the world, let him be happy
Translation
One who has a wife has the desire for enjoyment; for one without a wife, where is the ground of enjoyment? Having abandoned the wife, the world is abandoned; having abandoned the world, let him be happy.
Version
f5f534dd0f9e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The section ends with an inference, and it is worth examining, for it is unsound in its construction. It is built thus: one with a wife has desire; one without has nowhere for desire to act; therefore, abandoning a wife, one abandons the world. The error is in the middle link: desire does not arise from the object.
We have brought this argument more than once, and here it is seen especially clearly. One who has abandoned his wife has not remained without desire; he has remained without an object — but desire is still with him, as the whole history of hermits attests. The Gītā says this directly, and its verse has been cited: viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ, raso'py asya, "the objects turn away from the embodied who abstains from them, but the taste remains" (2.59).
It is worth noting that this refers to precisely this case: there is no object — the taste is there. Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side asserts about marriage, and it directly contradicts the present conclusion. Marriage, for her, is gṛhastha-āśrama, one of the four stations; and the Bhāgavatam says it feeds the other three: hermits, students, and wanderers live on the alms of householders.
That is, one who "has abandoned the world" eats the bread of one who has not abandoned it; and if everyone followed this verse, there would be no one to give alms to the renounced. Let us add the last point. The Gītā says through Kṛṣṇa's mouth: dharma-aviruddho bhūteṣu kāmo'smi, "I am the desire in beings, not contrary to the law" (7.11); and this was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (1.13). A desire not contrary to the code is there named Himself; and after this verse, the conclusion "having abandoned the wife, the world is abandoned" cannot stand.