Upaniṣads · Mahā 4.7
॥
Devanāgarī
चेतसो यदकर्तृत्वं तत्समाधानमीरितम् तदेव केवलीभावं साशुभा निर्वृतिः परा
Transliteración (IAST)
cetaso yadakartṛtvaṃ tatsamādhānamīritam tadeva kevalībhāvaṃ sāśubhā nirvṛtiḥ parā
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
चेतसः यत् अकर्तृत्वम्cetasaḥ yat akartṛtvamthe non-doership of the mind; that consciousness is not the doer
तत् समाधानम् ईरितम्tat samādhānam īritamthat is what is called concentration; that is what is proclaimed composure
तत् एव केवली-भावम्tat eva kevalī-bhāvamit likewise is the state of the single one; it also is the being-in-aloneness
सा अशुभा निर्वृतिः पराsā aśubhā nirvṛtiḥ parāthat is the flawless supreme contentment; that is the unblemished highest satisfaction
Traducción
“The mind's non-doership — that is what is called concentration; it is likewise the state of singleness, it is the flawless supreme contentment.”
Versión
1d33c08bbd7a · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
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A definition of samādhi, and not the one you expect.
Samādhi here is no special experience, no light, no arrest of the breath. It is defined as akartṛtva cetasaḥ — “the non-doership of the mind”.
That is, not “the mind does something special”, but “the mind has ceased to be a doer”.
The next verse will say this more sharply; for now let me note that the same definition will be repeated in 4.11 with a direct rejection of the false understanding: samādhi is not silent sitting.
Kevalī-bhāva, “the state of singleness”, is a word from the vocabulary of Sāṅkhya and Yoga: kaivalya, the aloofness of consciousness from matter. Here it is equated with the mind's non-doership, and reasonably: while the mind counts itself the doer, it is precisely the tie to matter.
The reading “aśubhā” varies in the extant copies; I render it “flawless”, taking a-śubhā in the rare sense of “unclouded”. The passage is corrupt, and I will not insist.