Upanishads · Varāha 2.32
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वस्वरूपानुसन्धानान्नृत्यन्तं सर्वसाक्षिणम् । मुहूर्तं चिन्तयेन्मां यः सर्वबन्धैः प्रमुच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
svasvarūpānusandhānānnṛtyantaṃ sarvasākṣiṇam | muhūrtaṃ cintayenmāṃ yaḥ sarvabandhaiḥ pramucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्व-स्वरूप-अनुसन्धानात्sva-svarūpa-anusandhānātfrom the investigation of one's own true nature
नृत्यन्तं सर्व-साक्षिणम्nṛtyantaṃ sarva-sākṣiṇamthe dancing one, witness of all
मुहूर्तं चिन्तयेत् मां यःmuhūrtaṃ cintayet māṃ yaḥwho thinks of me even for a moment
सर्व-बन्धैः प्रमुच्यतेsarva-bandhaiḥ pramucyateis freed from all bonds
Translation
"Who thinks of me, even for a moment, — the dancing one, witness of all, [attained] by investigation of one's own true nature — is freed from all bonds."
Version
5c1f5b7e4ae8 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the word nrityantam, "the dancing one," for it is unexpected here, and beautiful. In the midst of a chapter full of abstract definitions — all-pervading, beyond qualities, a mass of consciousness — a participle suddenly appears, describing movement and joy. Let us add what deserves saying of the word itself.
Dance, in Indian practice, is a divine act: Shiva dances the tandava, Krishna dances upon Kaliya and in the rasa-lila, Chaitanya danced in the streets of Puri. And each time dance means one thing: an overflow, finding no other outlet. Hence it has no purpose: one does not dance for the sake of something.
The Vaishnava side keeps dance in its very practice and does not count it an ornament: its sankirtana is chanting with dance, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (2.15). Let us add the word muhurtam, "a moment." A promise for a moment's remembrance is, of course, the usual exaggeration of a phala-shruti; but worth noting is what it demands: not long practice, but a single instant of attention.
The Bhagavatam says the same, and in a verse its teachers repeat more than any other: "a moment's association with devotees does not compare with heaven or with liberation — what, then, of earthly goods" (1.18.13). That is, the measure here is not duration, but genuineness; and one real instant weighs more than a year of scattered diligence.