Avadhuta Upanishad: Verse 22

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

विरलत्वं व्यवहृतेरिष्टं चेद्ध्यानमस्तु ते । बाधिकर्मव्यवहृतिं पश्यन्ध्यायाम्यहं कुतः ॥२२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

विरलत्वम् । व्यवहृतेः । इष्टम् । चेत् । ध्यानम् । अस्तु । ते । बाधि-कर्म-व्यवहृतिम् । पश्यन् । ध्यायामि । अहम् । कुतः ॥२२॥

Recitation with translationAvadhuta Upanishad 22

IAST Transliteration

viralattvaṃ vyavahṛter iṣṭaṃ ced dhyānam astu te | bādhikarmavyavahṛtiṃ paśyan dhyāyāmy ahaṃ kutaḥ ||22||

Translation

Wenn du das Ausdünnen der Tätigkeit wünschst, so sei Meditation für dich. Ich aber—da ich das geschäftige Wirken des Karma als aufgehoben schaue—wie könnte ich meditieren?

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Academic Translation

If you desire the thinning out of activity, let there be meditation for you. But I—seeing the transactional activity of karma as sublated—how could I meditate?

Verse Context

• Bādhita-vyavahāra (sublation of transaction) and the jñānī’s absence of doership
• Mahavakya: Echoes ‘तत् त्वम् असि (tat tvam asi)’: once identity with Brahman is known, the agent-meditator notion is sublated; practices remain only as provisional aids for seekers.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (śloka)