Bhidyate hridaya-granthih: the knot of the heart comes loose
Bhidyate hridaya-granthih ("the knot of the heart is loosened") is from the Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8, in the Atharva Veda. Angiras tells Shaunaka that when the highest is seen, the knot of the heart comes undone, every doubt is cut, and past deeds lose their hold. The Bhagavata Purana quotes the verse.
Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8
भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशयाः ।क्षीयन्ते चास्य कर्माणि तस्मिन् दृष्टे परावरे ॥
bhidyate hṛdayagranthiś chidyante sarvasaṃśayāḥ |kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi tasmin dṛṣṭe parāvare ||
The knot of the heart comes loose, every doubt is cut away, and a person’s deeds wear out, once That is seen, the high and the low.
Who said it, and to whom
Angiras to Shaunaka
The second chapter of the Mundaka has just made Om the bow, the self the arrow and Brahman the target (2.2.4). This verse says what happens to the one whose arrow lands.
How the acharyas read it
Shankara
Shankara reads the knot as the desires lodged in the intellect, born of not knowing the Self. The doubts are doubts about what can be known. The deeds that wear out are those not yet bearing fruit; the ones that made this body run their course. Paravara is the one who is both cause and effect, high and low.
Where others read it differently
Ramanuja’s line, and the Bhagavata Purana (1.2.21), read the seeing as seeing the Lord, with the same release from doubt and deed.
Writing it out
- भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिःbhidyate hṛdayagranthiḥThe knot comes loose
- छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशयाःchidyante sarvasaṃśayāḥEvery doubt is cut
In the verse the visarga of ग्रन्थिः becomes श् before छ: हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते. Written alone, the word ends in ः.
A print-ready card in Devanagari, 1080 by 1350 pixels. Open it full size for a tattoo stencil, calligraphy reference or framing.
Copy or share the line
भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशयाः
bhidyate hṛdayagranthiś chidyante sarvasaṃśayāḥ
The knot of the heart comes loose, and every doubt is cut away.
Angiras to Shaunaka · Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8
The same thought in the Gita
Read next to Bhagavad Gita 4.37: Krishna: as a fire turns wood to ash, the fire of knowledge turns all deeds to ash.
One line each morning
A week of lines for what you are going through, one each morning by email. The first week is free.
Send my weekKeep reading
Questions people ask
- Where is "bhidyate hridaya granthih" from?
- Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8. The Bhagavata Purana repeats it at 1.2.21 with a different last line.
- What is the knot of the heart?
- In Shankara’s reading, the desires lodged in the mind that come from not knowing the Self. When the Self is known, they come undone.
Sources and method
Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8, Atharva Veda. Sanskrit from the Wisdom corpus, read against the sanskritdocuments.org edition (KB up_mundaka.2.2.8).
The English is Wisdom's own, drafted from the Sanskrit with Shankara's commentary (S. Sitarama Sastri's public-domain English) and checked against Swami Paramananda (1919) for tone. Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, under human review.