उपनिषद् · Mahā 4.86
॥
देवनागरी
सर्वशक्तेर्महेशस्य विलासो हि मनो जगत् संयमासंयमाभ्यां च संसारं शान्तिमन्वगात्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
sarvaśaktermaheśasya vilāso hi mano jagat saṃyamāsaṃyamābhyāṃ ca saṃsāraṃ śāntimanvagāt
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सर्व-शक्तेः मह-ईशस्यsarva-śakteḥ maha-īśasyaof the all-powerful Great Lord; of the almighty Great Master
विलासः हि मनः जगत्vilāsaḥ hi manaḥ jagatthe mind and world are indeed the play; precisely a diversion are consciousness and world
संयम-असंयमाभ्याम् चsaṃyama-asaṃyamābhyām caand by restraint and unrestraint; and through curbing and non-curbing
संसारम् शान्तिम् अन्वगात्saṃsāram śāntim anvagātone comes to the round or to peace; one arrives at the whirl or at stillness
अनुवाद
“The mind and the world are the play of the all-powerful Great Lord; by restraining or not restraining the mind one comes to peace or to the round.”
संस्करण
4cf154ced3b7 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The verse sets in place all that has been said of the mind, and does so unexpectedly.
Till now the mind was the cause of the worlds (3.21), the weaver of the phantasm (4.48), a patient to be treated (4.65). Here it is said whose it is: vilāsaḥ maheśasya — “the play of the Great Lord”.
The word vilāsa is the same by which in 4.67 saṁsāra was named: “diversion, play”.
Then it was the play of the mind. Now it turns out that the mind itself is someone's play.
This is an important turn, and Vaiṣṇava in spirit. The mind is no usurper and no enemy of the world-order; it is His power, and in that capacity not evil. Evil only is its becoming self-willed.
Hence the last line: one and the same power, curbed, leads to peace; uncurbed, to the round. Not two different principles — one, in two uses.
Note also the word sarva-śakti — “all-powerful”, literally “possessing all powers”. The mind is among them.