Upanishads · Varāha 4.19
॥
Devanāgarī
मा भव ग्राह्यभावात्मा ग्राहकात्मा च मा भव । भावनामखिलां त्यक्त्वा यच्छिष्टं तन्मयो भव
Transliteration (IAST)
mā bhava grāhyabhāvātmā grāhakātmā ca mā bhava | bhāvanāmakhilāṃ tyaktvā yacchiṣṭaṃ tanmayo bhava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मा भव ग्राह्य-भाव-आत्माmā bhava grāhya-bhāva-ātmādo not become one whose essence is the graspable
ग्राहक-आत्मा च मा भवgrāhaka-ātmā ca mā bhavaand do not become one whose essence is the grasper
भावनाम् अखिलां त्यक्त्वाbhāvanām akhilāṃ tyaktvāhaving abandoned every notion
यत् शिष्टं तत्-मयः भवyat śiṣṭaṃ tat-mayaḥ bhavabe composed of what remains
Translation
"Do not become one whose essence is the graspable, and do not become one whose essence is the grasper; having abandoned every notion, be composed of what remains."
Version
6b6278949a6a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the phrase yat shishtam, "what remains." That is, one is told to discard both the object and the perceiver, and then to become what remains. This is the same device as neti neti, discussed when reading the third chapter (3.18); but here it is stated with rare frankness: the remainder is not named.
Let us add what deserves saying of this namelessness. If the remainder is not named, the prescription is unperformable: one cannot become what one is not told the nature of. This objection is common in Vaishnava polemic and is stated thus: negation does not point.
It limits — it says where the object is not; but no quantity of limitation replaces a single pointing. Let us compare to the device of the Brihadaranyaka, discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p7): there, after negations follows the positive — "not for the wife's sake is the wife dear, but for the Atman's" (2.4.5); that is, after "not this, not this" comes "but for this." Let us add what this verse gives away against itself.
It says ma bhava, "do not become," and bhava, "become"; that is, someone is commanded to become something. A command presupposes one who can obey; and hence the prescription "abandon the grasper" is addressed to the grasper — otherwise there is no one to fulfill it.