Verse 22

Niralamba

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

देवमनुष्याद्युपासना-कामसङ्कल्पो बन्धः ॥२२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

देव-मनुष्य-आदि-उपासना-काम-सङ्कल्पः । बन्धः ॥२२॥

IAST Transliteration

devamanuṣyādyupāsanā-kāmasaṅkalpo bandhaḥ ||22||

Translation

ਦੇਵ, ਮਨੁੱਖ ਆਦਿ ਦੀ ਉਪਾਸਨਾ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਕਾਮਨਾ-ਰੂਪ ਸੰਕਲਪ ਹੀ ਬੰਧਨ ਹੈ।

Academic Translation

The volitional construction (saṅkalpa) of desire for worship of gods, humans, and the like is bondage.

Verse Context

• Bandha (bondage) through saṅkalpa (mental volition) and kāma (desire)
• Mahavakya: Indirectly supports the purport of identity-statements (e.g., ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’) by negating dependence on external objects of worship as ultimate; points toward non-dual self-knowledge beyond upāsanā motivated by desire.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose