Amritbindu Upanishad: Verse 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः । बन्धाय विषयासक्तं मुक्त्यै निर्विषयं स्मृतम् ॥२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

मनः । एव । मनुष्याणाम् । कारणम् । बन्ध-मोक्षयोः । बन्धाय । विषय-आसक्तम् । मुक्त्यै । निर्-विषयम् । स्मृतम् ॥

Recitation with translationAmritbindu Upanishad 2

IAST Transliteration

mana eva manuṣyāṇāṃ kāraṇaṃ bandha-mokṣayoḥ | bandhāya viṣayāsaktaṃ muktyai nirviṣayaṃ smṛtam ||2||

Translation

Der Geist allein ist für den Menschen Ursache von Bindung und Befreiung. An die Gegenstände geheftet, dient er der Bindung; gegenstandslos wird er als zur Befreiung führend erinnert.

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Academic Translation

Mind alone is the cause for humans of bondage and liberation. Attached to objects it is for bondage; devoid of objects it is remembered to be for liberation.

Word by Word

• manaḥ: mind
• Type: Noun
• Root: manas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन

• eva: alone/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थ निपात

• manuṣyāṇām: of humans
• Type: Noun
• Root: manuṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी बहुवचन

• kāraṇam: cause
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन

• bandha-mokṣayoḥ: of bondage and liberation
• Type: Noun
• Root: bandha-mokṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी/सप्तमी द्विवचन (अत्र षष्ठी: 'of bondage and liberation')

• bandhāya: for bondage
• Type: Noun
• Root: bandha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी एकवचन (प्रयोजन/उद्देश्य)

• viṣayāsaktam: attached to sense-objects
• Type: Adjective
• Root: viṣaya-āsakta (प्रातिपदिक; √sañj/√as with ā-; क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (manaḥ इति)

• muktyai: for liberation
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी एकवचन (प्रयोजन)

• nirviṣayam: free from objects
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nir-viṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (manaḥ इति)

• smṛtam: is held to be
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु) ; smṛta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; 'is considered/remembered as'

Sandhi Notes

• bandha-mokṣayoḥ = द्वन्द्वसमास
• viṣayāsaktam = viṣaya + āsaktam
• nirviṣayam = nir- + viṣaya
• mana eva = manaḥ + eva (visarga sandhi)

About this Verse

Central concept

Bandha–mokṣa as mind-dependent (adhyāsa/saṅga vs. vairāgya)

The mahavakyas

Indirect: establishes the psychological/epistemic condition for realizing mahāvākyas—object-attachment sustains misidentification; object-free mind supports ātma-bodha.

Veda

Atharva

Chandas

Anuṣṭubh (śloka)

Yoga and practice

Pratyāhāra and vairāgya as central disciplines; cultivate ‘nirviṣayatā’ (non-objectification) through meditation, sense-restraint, and discrimination (viveka) between seer and seen.