उपनिषद् · Varāha 2.16
॥
देवनागरी
सत्यज्ञानानन्दपूर्णलक्षणं तमसः परम् । ब्रह्मानन्दं सदा पश्यन्कथं बध्येत कर्मणा
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
satyajñānānandapūrṇalakṣaṇaṃ tamasaḥ param | brahmānandaṃ sadā paśyankathaṃ badhyeta karmaṇā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सत्य-ज्ञान-आनन्द-पूर्ण-लक्षणंsatya-jñāna-ānanda-pūrṇa-lakṣaṇaṃwhose mark is truth, knowledge, fullness of bliss
तमसः परम्tamasaḥ parambeyond darkness
ब्रह्म-आनन्दं सदा पश्यन्brahma-ānandaṃ sadā paśyanthe bliss of brahman, always seeing
कथं बध्येत कर्मणाkathaṃ badhyeta karmaṇāhow could he be bound by deed?
अनुवाद
"Whose mark is truth, knowledge, fullness of bliss, beyond darkness; always seeing the bliss of brahman, — how could he be bound by deed?"
संस्करण
9b8cce7eaed0 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Worth noting is the phrase tamasah param, "beyond darkness," for it is taken from the Shvetashvatara. There it stands in a verse examined when reading the Mahavakya (p14): vedaham etam purusham mahantam aditya-varnam tamasah parastat, "I know that great Person, of the color of the sun, beyond darkness" (3.8). Worth noting is that here the description is taken but the word purusha, "Person," is dropped; and we noted the same in the Mahavakya.
Let us add the question with which the verse ends: katham badhyeta karmana, "how could he be bound by deed?" This is the question of the attained one's bondage to deeds, and it recurs constantly in these books. The Gita's answer deserves citing, for it is more precise than the one here. It says: "whoever has renounced deeds [from himself] by union, whose doubt is cut by knowledge, who possesses himself — that one deeds do not bind" (4.41).
Three conditions are named there: renunciation of deeds, the cutting of doubt, self-possession; here only one — contemplation of bliss. Let us add what the Gita supplies, and what constitutes its distinctive feature. Deeds do not bind not because the doer fails to notice them, but because they are surrendered: mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya, "having entrusted all deeds to Me" (3.30).
That is, what unties is not forgetfulness of the deed, but its handing-over; and the difference between these two methods is the difference between inattention and surrender.