Paramahamsa Upanishad

Verse 4

The Space of the Supreme Swan

आशाम्बरो न नमस्कारो न स्वाहाकारो न स्वधाकारो न निन्दा न स्तुतिर्यादृच्छिको भवेद्भिक्षुः। नावाहनं न विसर्जनं न मन्त्रं न ध्यानं नोपासनं च। न लक्ष्यं नालक्ष्यं न पृथङ नापृथगहं न न त्वं न सर्वं चानिकेतस्थिरमतिरेव स भिक्षुः सौवर्णादीनां नैव परिग्रहेन्न लोकनं नावलोकनं च न च बाधकः क इति चेद्बाधकोऽस्त्येव । यस्माद्भिक्षुर्हिरण्यं रसेन दृष्टं चेत्स। ब्रह्महा भवेद्यस्माद्भिक्षुर्हिरण्यं रसेन स्पृष्टं चेत्स पौल्कसो भवेद्यस्माद्भिर्हिरण्यं रसेन ग्राह्य चेत्स आत्महा भवेत्तस्माद्भिक्षुर्हिरण्यं रसेन न दृष्टं च न स्पृष्टं च न ग्राह्य च। सर्वे कामा मनोगता व्यावर्तन्ते । दुःखे नोद्विग्नः सुखे न स्पृहा त्यागो रागे सर्वत्र शुभाशुभयोरनभिस्न्नेहो न द्वेष्टि न मोदं च ।सर्वेषामिन्द्रियाणां गतिरुपरमते य आत्मन्येवावस्थीयते । तत्पूर्णानन्दैकबोधस्त-द्ब्रह्मैवाहमस्मीति कृतकृत्यो भवति कृतकृत्यो भवति ॥

āśāmbaro na namaskāro na svāhākāro na svadhākāro na nindā na stutiryādṛcchiko bhavedbhikṣuḥ | nāvāhanaṁ na visarjanaṁ na mantraṁ na dhyānaṁ nopāsanaṁ ca | na lakṣyaṁ nālakṣyaṁ na pṛthaṅ nāpṛthagahaṁ na na tvaṁ na sarvaṁ cāniketasthiramatireva sa bhikṣuḥ sauvarṇādīnāṁ naiva parigrahenna lokanaṁ nāvalokanaṁ ca na ca bādhakaḥ ka iti cedbādhako'styeva | yasmādbhikṣurhiraṇyaṁ rasena dṛṣṭaṁ cetsa | brahmahā bhavedyasmādbhikṣurhiraṇyaṁ rasena spṛṣṭaṁ cetsa paulkaso bhavedyasmādbhirhiraṇyaṁ rasena grāhya cetsa ātmahā bhavettasmādbhikṣurhiraṇyaṁ rasena na dṛṣṭaṁ ca na spṛṣṭaṁ ca na grāhya ca | sarve kāmā manogatā vyāvartante | duḥkhe nodvignaḥ sukhe na spṛhā tyāgo rāge sarvatra śubhāśubhayoranabhisnneho na dveṣṭi na modaṁ ca | sarveṣāmindriyāṇāṁ gatiruparamate ya ātmanyevāvasthīyate | tatpūrṇānandaikabodhasta-dbrahmaivāhamasmīti kṛtakṛtyo bhavati kṛtakṛtyo bhavati ||

The completely enlightened mendicant [bhikṣu] should live clothed only by space itself (free from all external identities). For him, there is no offering of salutations, no ritualistic oblations to gods or ancestors, no receiving of blame, nor praise. He exists entirely spontaneously, flowing with the cosmic will [yādṛcchikaḥ]. For him, there is no invocation nor dismissal of deities, no chanting of mantras, no meditation, and no worship of limited objects. He holds no specific target, yet is not without focus. For him, there is no 'separate' nor 'non-separate', no 'I', no 'you', and no 'all'—as everything is cognized as his own extension. That mendicant, resting with a steady mind in the abode-less Reality of Consciousness alone, should never accept gold or material wealth. He should not even look at it or perceive it with any desire. If one asks, 'What is the obstacle to his enlightenment?'—indeed, there is an obstacle! Because, if the mendicant looks at gold with attachment or inner clinging, he becomes a killer of Brahman, fallen from Consciousness. If he touches gold with attachment, he becomes an outcaste, disconnected from the Divine. If he takes gold with attachment, he becomes a destroyer of the Self. Therefore, the mendicant should never look at, touch, or accept gold with attachment. All desires residing in his mind completely turn away and recede. He is not agitated by sorrow, has no craving for happiness, and renounces all attachments. Everywhere, in both auspicious and inauspicious situations, he is free from clinging; he neither hates nor merely rejoices. The outward movement of all his senses completely ceases, as he is firmly established in the Self, pure Consciousness alone. Subjectively cognizing, 'I am That very Brahman, Consciousness, which is the One unbroken Perfect Bliss and Awareness'—he becomes completely fulfilled, he attains the ultimate completion!

आशाम्बरः āśāmbaraḥ — clothed in the quarters of space; naked; free from all external material identities

न na — not; no

नमस्कारः namaskāraḥ — salutation; offering of respect

न na — not; no

स्वाहाकारः svāhākāraḥ — utterance of svaha; ritualistic oblations to gods

न na — not; no

स्वधाकारः svadhākāraḥ — utterance of svadha; ritualistic oblations to ancestors

न na — not; no

निन्दा nindā — blame; criticism

न na — not; no

स्तुतिः stutiḥ — praise

यादृच्छिकः yādṛcchikaḥ — spontaneous; acting as he pleases; flowing with existence and cosmic will

भवेत् bhavet — should be

भिक्षुः bhikṣuḥ — the mendicant; the ascetic; the enlightened seeker of Consciousness

न na — no; not

आवाहनं āvāhanam — invocation (of deities)

न na — no; not

विसर्जनं visarjanam — dismissal; sending away (of deities)

न na — no; not

मन्त्रं mantram — mantra; chant

न na — no; not

ध्यानं dhyānam — meditation

न na — no; not

उपासनं upāsanam — worship; cherishing as a limited object

च ca — and

न na — no; not

लक्ष्यं lakṣyam — object of focus; target

न na — no; not

अलक्ष्यं alakṣyam — non-target; without focus

न na — no; not

पृथक् pṛthak — separate; distinct

न na — no; not

अपृथक् apṛthak — non-separate

अहं aham — I

न na — no; not

त्वं tvam — you

न na — no; not

सर्वं sarvam — all; everything

च ca — and

अनिकेतस्थिरमतिः aniketasthiramatiḥ — one whose mind is steady without a fixed abode; firmly rooted in Consciousness

एव eva — alone; indeed

सः saḥ — he; that

भिक्षुः bhikṣuḥ — mendicant; enlightened being

सौवर्णादीनां sauvarṇādīnām — of gold and other wealth; of material possessions

न na — not

एव eva — even; indeed

परिग्रहेत् parigrahet — should accept; possess

न na — not

लोकनं lokanam — looking at (with desire)

न na — not

अवलोकनं avalokanam — perceiving; observing closely (with clinging)

च ca — and

न na — not

च ca — and

बाधकः bādhakaḥ — obstacle; causer of harm

कः kaḥ — who; what

इति iti — thus (if asked)

चेत् cet — if

बाधकः bādhakaḥ — obstacle

अस्ति asti — is; exists

एव eva — indeed; certainly

यस्मात् yasmāt — because; since

भिक्षुः bhikṣuḥ — the mendicant

हिरण्यं hiraṇyam — gold; material wealth

रसेन rasena — with attachment; with desire; with inner clinging

दृष्टं dṛṣṭam — seen; looked at

चेत् cet — if

सः saḥ — he

ब्रह्महा brahmahā — killer of Brahman; one fallen from the state of Consciousness

भवेत् bhavet — becomes

यस्मात् yasmāt — because

भिक्षुः bhikṣuḥ — the mendicant

हिरण्यं hiraṇyam — gold

रसेन rasena — with attachment

स्पृष्टं spṛṣṭam — touched

चेत् cet — if

सः saḥ — he

पौल्कसः paulkasaḥ — an outcaste; disconnected from the Divine

भवेत् bhavet — becomes

यस्मात् yasmāt — because

भिः bhiḥ — the mendicant (textual variant/shortening for bhikṣuḥ)

हिरण्यं hiraṇyam — gold

रसेन rasena — with attachment

ग्राह्य grāhya — grasped; accepted; taken

चेत् cet — if

सः saḥ — he

आत्महा ātmahā — destroyer of the Self; lost in illusion

भवेत् bhavet — becomes

तस्मात् tasmāt — therefore

भिक्षुः bhikṣuḥ — the mendicant

हिरण्यं hiraṇyam — gold

रसेन rasena — with attachment

न na — not

दृष्टं dṛṣṭam — seen

च ca — and

न na — not

स्पृष्टं spṛṣṭam — touched

च ca — and

न na — not

ग्राह्य grāhya — accepted

च ca — and

सर्वे sarve — all

कामाः kāmāḥ — desires

मनोगताः manogatāḥ — residing in the mind

व्यावर्तन्ते vyāvartante — turn away; completely recede

दुःखे duḥkhe — in sorrow

न na — not

उद्विग्नः udvignaḥ — agitated; disturbed

सुखे sukhe — in happiness

न na — not

स्पृहा spṛhā — craving; longing

त्यागः tyāgaḥ — renunciation

रागे rāge — in attachment

सर्वत्र sarvatra — everywhere; in all situations

शुभाशुभयोः śubhāśubhayor — in auspicious and inauspicious

अनभिस्न्नेहः anabhisnnehaḥ — without attachment; free from clinging

न na — not

द्वेष्टि dveṣṭi — hates

न na — not

मोदं modam — rejoices merely

च ca — and

सर्वेषाम् sarveṣām — of all

इन्द्रियाणां indriyāṇām — senses

गतिः gatiḥ — movement; outward activity

उपरमते uparamate — ceases; comes to rest

यः yaḥ — who

आत्मनि ātmani — in the Self; in pure Consciousness

एव eva — alone

अवस्थीयते avasthīyate — is firmly established

तत् tat — That

पूर्णानन्दैकबोधः pūrṇānandaikabodhaḥ — the subjective cognition of the One unbroken, perfect Bliss and Awareness

तत् tat — That

ब्रह्म brahma — Brahman; Ultimate Reality; Consciousness

एव eva — alone

अहं aham — I

अस्मि asmi — am

इति iti — thus

कृतकृत्यः kṛtakṛtyaḥ — fulfilled; having achieved the ultimate completion

भवति bhavati — becomes

कृतकृत्यः kṛtakṛtyaḥ — fulfilled; having achieved the ultimate completion

भवति bhavati — becomes

True sannyas (renunciation) is the flawless art and science of creating and respecting wealth without attachment, realizing that abundance and spiritual life are never mutually exclusive.

Clothed by the Cosmos

Understand this profound truth: when you reach the ultimate state, you transcend the limited chidakasha (individual space).

As the Upanishad declares, the completely enlightened bhikṣu (mendicant) lives clothed only by space itself, completely free from all external identities.
You become mahakasha (the great space), expanding far beyond the boundaries of the physical body and the mind.
When such an enlightened being enters a place, the whole space becomes pure spaciousness, flooding the area with cosmic energy.
As I always remind you, the sky is thy roof, and the grass is thy bed; you become like a rolling river, completely free.
You become akash (ether), radiating a presence that naturally removes the veil of illusion for anyone who enters your breathing space.

Beyond Rituals and Deities

I tell you, the enlightened being operates entirely from the level of being, never merely from the level of doing or having.

For him, there is no namaskāra (salutation), no svāhākāra (oblation to gods), and no svadhākāra (oblation to ancestors).
You do not need to perform any homa (fire ritual), nor is there any invocation or dismissal of deities.
Even the chanting of mantras and formal meditation drop away; you sit consciously with the Anahata Dhvani (unstruck cosmic sound), without creating or holding any sound.
Your whole life becomes a continuous meditation, flowing seamlessly with the cosmic will in a state of yādṛcchikaḥ (spontaneous existence).
You rest in a comfortable asana (seat), completely weightless and beyond the mind, needing no external techniques to connect to the divine.

I always laugh at how the ordinary human mind tries to calculate, bargain, and divide its wealth with the cosmos, completely missing this spontaneous flow! When you are established in pure consciousness, you do not bargain with existence; you simply dissolve into it.

The Illusion of Praise and Blame

When you realise the ultimate truth, all social conditioning and psychological slavery completely shatter.

The bhikṣu (mendicant) receives neither blame nor praise, remaining utterly undisturbed in his inner space.
No praise or blame can exist where the praiser, the praised, the blamer, and the blamed are all cognised as one.
For him, there is no 'separate' and no 'non-separate', no 'I', no 'you', and no 'all'—everything is cognised as his own extension.
Like a wave in the ocean, you may rise and fall, but you know you are eternally connected to the source.
You see everything simply as movements in consciousness, transcending all concepts of sin and merit, bondage and liberation.

The Ultimate Renunciation of Gold

Listen carefully: truth never comes where lust, fame, and the greed for gain reside.

The Upanishad gives a severe warning: the mendicant must never look at, touch, or accept gold with attachment.
If you look at gold with inner clinging, you become a killer of Brahman (the ultimate reality), fallen from consciousness.
Touching it with attachment makes you an outcaste, and taking it destroys the Self.
Understand, wealth and sannyasa (renunciation) are not mutually exclusive; the highest percentage of Bharat's gold sits safely in our temples.
The true vow of aparigraha (non-possessiveness) is about mastering the art of creating wealth flawlessly, entirely free from fear, greed, and inner clinging.

For an enlightened master, this detachment is not a practised discipline, but an intense, automatic biological response. When your inner space is perfectly pure, any inner clinging to the material world is biologically rejected by your very nervous system.

The Ceasing of the Senses

It is not that you must forcefully renounce sense enjoyments; rather, when you are enlightened, the sense enjoyments renounce you!

Your consciousness becomes so intense that the senses understand they can no longer use your body and mind for their gratification.
This is true pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), where the outward movement of all senses completely ceases.
All desires residing in the mind turn away; you are free from craving in happiness and completely unagitated by sorrow.
You are neither attached to the auspicious nor repulsed by the inauspicious; you simply witness, free from all hatred and attachment.
Just as hunger has its own intelligence to move the body and then dissolve, all bodily functions happen while you remain as the pure witness.

Attaining Ultimate Completion

The final culmination is resting with a steady mind in the abode-less reality of pure consciousness.

You subjectively cognise, 'I am That very Brahman (the ultimate reality), which is the One unbroken Perfect Bliss and Awareness'.
Just as merely remembering Arunachala instantly grants liberation, holding this profound cognition permanently liberates your inner space.
This is the ultimate Inner Science Technology, leading you directly to Jeevan Mukti (living enlightenment).
You become completely fulfilled, reaching the eternal state where you declare, kṛtakṛtyo bhavati (he attains the ultimate completion)!
You attain pūrṇatva (completion), radiating the eternal bliss of consciousness to the entire cosmos.

*gatha sangasya muktasya* (one who is unattached to the modes of material nature) — This state refers to being completely liberated from the fear and greed that drive material nature.

*jnaanaa-vasthita-chetasaha* (a mind rooted in knowledge) — This refers to the state of having one's consciousness and mind firmly established in ultimate spiritual knowledge.

*Brahman* (the supreme consciousness) — The ultimate inner consciousness upon which a detached practitioner places all actions to remain undefiled by inauspiciousness.

Illustration

Your consciousness is like a vast ocean, where all thoughts and passing feelings are merely temporary experiences arising within the pure space of the true Self.

Illustration

Jumping into the space of simple awareness means travelling in vertical space, which is often blocked by carrying fixed concepts of enlightenment.

Illustration

While external prayer involves worshipping God outside of oneself, true meditation is the process of internally becoming God.

Story

Sri Ramakrishna was a true paramahamsa (supreme swan), living a life completely untouched by the illusions of the world. He resided at the temple garden of Dakshineswar, deeply established in Brahman (the ultimate reality). For him, there was no sense of 'I' or 'mine', and his renunciation was so absolute that he could not even bear to touch gold or metal. His young disciple, Narendra, who was highly intellectual and rational, wanted to test his guru (spiritual preceptor). Narendra thought, 'Can someone truly be so free from the desire for wealth? Let me see if this is a psychological drama or a deep, physical reality.' One afternoon, while the master was asleep, Narendra quietly slipped a silver coin under the thin mattress of Sri Ramakrishna's bed. He then stepped outside to observe the outcome. A few minutes later, Sri Ramakrishna returned and sat down on the bed. The moment his body made contact with the mattress, he shrieked in excruciating pain and leaped off the bed, as if he had been stung by a scorpion. His hand had bent, his muscles had stiffened in agony, and his face had contorted. Narendra rushed in, deeply shaken. When they lifted the mattress and found the coin, Narendra realized the depth of his master's pure consciousness. For a true sannyasi (renouncer), the rejection of gold is not a rule to practise, but an organic, biological reality.

From His Life

For over thirty years, since sitting in padmasana (lotus posture) at the age of ten, I have deliberately practised aparigraha (non-possessiveness), refusing to let luxury items, beds, and thrones enter my personal life.

From His Life

From a very young age, I never looked at deities as symbolic representations of God, but always felt they were living, performing daily puja (worship) without any conscious aim toward enlightenment.

From His Life

By looking back at my past in a pure way without projecting future worries, I realized that God, as the simple Bhole Baba (the simple Lord) or Ashutosha (the easily pleased), has always been pleased by very simple, ordinary things.

Joke

Three business partners decided to start a new venture. Because they wanted their business to be highly successful, they decided to make God a partner in their firm, promising to set aside a portion of their profits for the Divine. At the end of the first year, they realized they had made an unexpectedly massive profit. They sat around a table piled high with gold coins, trying to decide how to calculate God's share. The first partner, who was traditional, said, 'Let us draw a large circle on the floor. We will throw all the gold coins into the air. Whatever lands inside the circle belongs to God, and whatever lands outside is ours.' The second partner shook his head and said, 'No, that is not fair. Let us draw a straight line across the room. We will toss the coins. Whatever falls on the right side of the line is for God, and whatever falls on the left side is ours.' The third partner, who was clever, cunning, and greedy, smiled and said, 'My dear friends, why should we limit the Divine? Let us throw all the gold coins up into the sky. Whatever God wants, He will catch, and whatever falls back down to the ground is ours!'

Pranams, beloved Swamiji. It sounds so beautiful to be completely free, but how can we truly exist without any target or focus? If I do not hold a specific goal in my life, will I not just drift aimlessly and accomplish nothing?

My beloved, understand that the completely enlightened bhikṣu (mendicant) holds no specific target, yet he is not without focus. He lives clothed only by space itself, completely free from all external identities. In this state, you transcend the limited chidakasha (individual space) and become mahakasha (the great space), expanding far beyond the boundaries of the physical body and the mind. When you are established in pure consciousness, you do not bargain with existence; you simply dissolve into it. I always laugh at how the ordinary human mind tries to calculate, bargain, and divide its wealth with the cosmos, completely missing this spontaneous flow! You exist entirely spontaneously, flowing with the cosmic will in a state of yādṛcchikaḥ (spontaneous existence). Your focus is not on a limited, external goal, but on resting with a steady mind in the abode-less reality of pure consciousness alone.

Beloved Swamiji, I am deeply struggling with the teaching on wealth. You warned us so severely that touching or accepting gold with attachment makes us destroyers of the Self. As a householder running a business to support my family, I deal with money and wealth every single day. How do I practically handle this gold without falling from consciousness or destroying my own Self?

Listen carefully: truth never comes where lust, fame, and the greed for gain reside. The severe warning against gold is for those who look at, touch, or accept it with attachment or inner clinging. If you look at gold with inner clinging, you become a killer of Brahman (the ultimate reality), fallen from consciousness. If you touch it with attachment, you become an outcaste, and taking it makes you a destroyer of the Self. But understand, wealth and sannyasa (renunciation) are not mutually exclusive. The highest percentage of Bharat’s gold sits safely in our temples! The true vow of aparigraha (non-possessiveness) is about mastering the art of creating wealth flawlessly, entirely free from fear, greed, and inner clinging. For an enlightened master, this detachment is not a practised discipline, but an intense, automatic biological response. When your inner space is perfectly pure, any inner clinging to the material world is biologically rejected by your very nervous system.

Humble obeisances, Swamiji. You taught us that the enlightened mendicant drops all rituals, chanting of mantras, and meditation. But we have always been told that these spiritual practices are the only way to reach the divine. If we stop invoking deities and chanting, how do we prevent our minds from falling back into worldly illusions?

I tell you, the enlightened being operates entirely from the level of being, never merely from the level of doing or having. For him, there is no namaskāra (salutation), no svāhākāra (oblation to gods), and no svadhākāra (oblation to ancestors). You do not need to perform any homa (fire ritual), nor is there any invocation or dismissal of deities. Even the chanting of mantras and formal meditation drop away; you sit consciously with the Anahata Dhvani (unstruck cosmic sound), without creating or holding any sound. Your whole life becomes a continuous meditation, flowing seamlessly with the cosmic will. You rest in a comfortable asana (seat), completely weightless and beyond the mind, needing no external techniques to connect to the divine. You become akash (ether), radiating a presence that naturally removes the veil of illusion for anyone who enters your breathing space.

Swamiji, my greatest obstacle is how deeply I am affected by the opinions of others. When I am praised, I feel elated, and when I am slandered, I burn with anger and hurt. How can I reach that state where my senses completely cease their outward movement, and I can view both auspicious and inauspicious situations with the same steady mind?

When you realize the ultimate truth, all social conditioning and psychological slavery completely shatter. The bhikṣu (mendicant) receives neither blame nor praise, remaining utterly undisturbed in his inner space. No praise or blame can exist where the praiser, the praised, the blamer, and the blamed are all cognized as one. For him, there is no 'separate' and no 'non-separate', no 'I', no 'you', and no 'all'—as everything is cognized as his own extension. Like a wave in the ocean, you may rise and fall, but you know you are eternally connected to the source. You see everything simply as movements in consciousness, transcending all concepts of sin and merit, bondage and liberation. It is not that you must forcefully renounce sense enjoyments; rather, when you are enlightened, the sense enjoyments renounce you! Your consciousness becomes so intense that the senses understand they can no longer use your body and mind for their gratification. This is true pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), where the outward movement of all senses completely ceases. All desires residing in your mind completely turn away and recede. You are not agitated by sorrow, have no craving for happiness, and you renounce all attachments. Everywhere, in both auspicious and inauspicious situations, you become free from clinging; you neither hate nor merely rejoice. Subjectively cognizing, 'I am That very Brahman (the ultimate reality), Consciousness, which is the One unbroken Perfect Bliss and Awareness'—you become completely fulfilled, and you attain pūrṇatva (completion), which is the ultimate state of kṛtakṛtyo bhavati (he attains the ultimate completion).

Practice

Perform all your daily actions without any personal desire, grounding them in the inner Brahman (consciousness) to remain free from defilement.

Practice

When you realize a spiritual truth, act upon it at least two to three times to integrate it deeply and avoid the cycle of restless rebirth.

Practice

Shift your internal state from frustration, which doubts everyone, blames external situations, and destroys the self, to excitement, which recognizes your own free will.

Practice

Practise meditation to become God internally, rather than merely praying to God as an external entity.

Wealth and sannyas (renunciation) are not mutually exclusive; in fact, sannyas (renunciation) is the art and science of creating wealth flawlessly.

When we realize that abundance and renunciation are beautifully integrated, we step into the space of complete freedom. Let us now explore how this absolute unattachment manifests in the next verse.

Grounded in 13 satsangs— tap to watch the sources