Atma Upanishad 27 — Verse 27

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

अमुष्य ब्रह्मभूतत्त्वाद् ब्रह्मणः कुत उद्भवः । मायाक्लृप्तौ बन्धमोक्षौ न स्तः स्वात्मनि वस्तुतः ॥

यथा रज्जौ निष्क्रियायां सर्पाभासविनिर्गमौ । अवृतेः सदसत्त्वाभ्यां वक्तव्ये बन्धमोक्षणे ॥ २६–२७ ॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

यथा । रज्जौ । निष्क्रियायाम् । सर्प-आभास-विनिर्गमौ ।

अ-वृतेः । सत्-असत्त्वाभ्याम् । वक्तव्ये । बन्ध-मोक्षणे ।

(पूर्वार्धः सह: अमुष्य… वस्तुतः)

IAST Transliteration

yathā rajjau niṣkriyāyāṃ sarpābhāsavinirgamau | avṛteḥ sadasattvābhyāṃ vaktavye bandhamokṣaṇe || 26–27 ||

Translation

നിഷ്ക്രിയമായ കയറിൽ ആവരണം (അവിദ്യ) ഉണ്ടായാൽ സർപ്പാഭാസം പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെടുന്നു എന്നും, ആവരണം ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ അത് പിന്മാറുന്നു എന്നും പറയുന്നതുപോലെ—ബന്ധവും മോക്ഷവും അങ്ങനെ മാത്രമാണ് പറയപ്പെടുന്നത്.

Academic Translation

Just as, in an inactive rope, the appearance and withdrawal of a snake-appearance are spoken of because of the presence or absence of covering, so too are bondage and liberation spoken of (only in that manner).

Verse Context

• Adhyāsa (superimposition) and nivṛtti (sublation) as the basis for speaking of bandha–mokṣa
• Mahavakya: Clarifies how Mahāvākya-realization sublates error: the ‘I’ (tvam) is recognized as Brahman (tat), dissolving the imagined snake of limitation.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (śloka-style)