Ishavasya Upanishad 2: Verse 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः । एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे ॥२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

कुर्वन् । एव । इह । कर्माणि । जिजीविषेत् । शतम् । समाः । एवम् । त्वयि । न । अन्यथा । इतः । अस्ति । न । कर्म । लिप्यते । नरे ।

Sanskrit recitationIshavasya Upanishad 2

IAST Transliteration

kurvann eveha karmāṇi jijīviṣec chataṃ samāḥ | evaṃ tvayi nānyatheto 'sti na karma lipyate nare ||2||

Translation

ഇവിടെ തന്നെ കര്‍മ്മങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്തുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കെ മനുഷ്യന്‍ നൂറു വര്‍ഷം ജീവിക്കണമെന്നു ആഗ്രഹിക്കട്ടെ. നിനക്കു ഇതല്ലാതെ മറ്റൊരു മാര്‍ഗമില്ല; കര്‍മ്മം മനുഷ്യനെ ലിപ്തമാക്കുകയില്ല.

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Academic Translation

Doing actions here indeed, one should wish to live a hundred years. Thus, for you—there is no other way than this; action does not cling to a man.

Verse Context

• Karma-yoga and akarma-bandha (non-binding action); niṣkāma-karma; jīvanmukti orientation
• Mahavakya: Preparatory (sādhana) relation: non-binding action purifies the mind (citta-śuddhi) enabling mahāvākya realization (e.g., ‘tat tvam asi’). Not itself a mahāvākya.
• Yajurveda
• Shukla (Vajasaneyi) Yajurveda; Madhyandina/Kanva recensions Shakha
• Chandas: Prose (Yajurvedic mantra style)