Upanishads · Varāha 4.26
॥
Devanāgarī
यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः । हर्षामर्षभयोन्मुक्तः स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ | harṣāmarṣabhayonmuktaḥ sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यस्मात् न उद्विजते लोकःyasmāt na udvijate lokaḥby whom the world is not disturbed
लोकात् न उद्विजते च यःlokāt na udvijate ca yaḥand who is not disturbed by the world
हर्ष-अमर्ष-भय-उन्मुक्तःharṣa-amarṣa-bhaya-unmuktaḥfree of delight, resentment, and fear
सः जीवत्-मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvat-muktaḥ ucyatethat one is called liberated while living
Translation
"By whom the world is not disturbed, and who is not disturbed by the world, free of delight, resentment, and fear, — that one is called liberated while living."
Version
50b4087f7d2f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse is taken verbatim from the Gita, and it is worth comparing the two versions, for the difference lies in one half-verse, and it is decisive. The Gita: yasman nodvijate loko lokan nodvijate cha yah; harsha-amarsha-bhayodvegair mukto yah sa cha me priyah (12.15). Translation: "by whom the world is not disturbed, and who is not disturbed by the world, free of delight, resentment, fear, and agitation, — that one is dear to Me."
Here the ending is remade: instead of sa cha me priyah, "that one is dear to Me," it says sa jivan-mukta uchyate, "that one is called liberated while living." This alteration is, in my view, the most vivid demonstration, in the whole book, of what the difference between the two readings consists in. The description of the person is the same, word for word.
But the conclusion is different: there he is dear to someone, here he is classed in a category. That is, the same conduct is, in one teaching, the object of a relation, and in the other, a sign of a state. Let us add what follows from this.
If the Highest is a state, praise is superfluous: the state has arrived and needs no one's gaze. If the Highest is a relation, praise is the fruit itself: the very saying "dear to Me" constitutes the whole content of the attainment. The Vaishnava side points to such alterations as direct testimony: the list of marks in the Gita, thirteen verses in a row (12.13–20), ends with one and the same refrain — "that one is dear to Me"; and this refrain is not an ornament, but the chief word.