Avadhuta Upanishad 22 — 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॥

IAST Transliteration

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

Translation

ವ್ಯವಹಾರದ ವಿರಲತೆ ನಿನಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟವಿದ್ದರೆ, ನಿನಗೆ ಧ್ಯಾನ ಇರಲಿ. ಆದರೆ ನಾನು—ಕರ್ಮದ ವ್ಯವಹಾರವನ್ನು ಬಾಧಿತ (ಅಪವಾದಿತ)ವೆಂದು ಕಾಣುವವನು—ಎಲ್ಲಿ നിന്ന് ಧ್ಯಾನ ಮಾಡಲಿ?

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)