1764 verses · verified Sanskrit text · IAST · English translation
satyameva jayate nānr̥tṃ satyena panthā vitato devayānḥ | yenā''kramantyr̥ṣayo hyāptakāmā yatra tat satyasya paramṃ nidhānam ||
“Truth alone wins, not falsehood; by truth stretches the gods' path, whereby the satisfied seers ascend to where truth's highest treasure lies.”
br̥hacca tad divyamacintyarūpṃ sūkṣmācca tat sūkṣmatarṃ vibhāti | dūrāt sudūre tadihāntike ca paśyatsvihaiva nihitṃ guhāyām ||
“Great, divine, of unthinkable form, it shines subtler than subtle; far, farther than far, yet near at hand — set in the cave, even here among seers.”
na cakṣuṣā gr̥hyate nāpi vācā nānyairdevaistapasā karmaṇā vā | jñānaprasādena viśuddhasattvastatastu tṃ paśyate niṣkalṃ dhyāyamānḥ ||
“It is grasped not by eye, speech, other senses, austerity or rites; by the favour of knowledge, his being purified, then meditating one beholds the partless.”
eṣo'ṇurātmā cetasā veditavyo yasmin prāṇḥ pañcadhā sṃviveśa | prāṇaiścittṃ sarvamotṃ prajānāṃ yasmin viśuddhe vibhavatyeṣa ātmā ||
“This subtle Self is to be known by the mind wherein breath fivefold has entered; by breaths is all creatures' thought woven — when purified, this Self prevails.”
yṃ yṃ lokṃ manasā sṃvibhāti viśuddhasattvḥ kāmayate yāṃśca kāmān | tṃ tṃ lokṃ jayate tāṃśca kāmāṃstasmādātmajñṃ hyarcayet bhūtikāmḥ ||
“Whatever world the purified mind pictures, whatever desires it desires — that world it wins, those desires; so let wealth-seekers honour the knower of Self.”
sa vedaitat paramṃ brahma dhāma yatra viśvṃ nihitṃ bhāti śubhram | upāsate puruṣṃ ye hyakāmāste śukrametadativartanti dhīrāḥ ||
“He knows this supreme Brahman-abode wherein the shining universe rests. The desireless who worship the Person — those wise cross beyond the seed.”
kāmān yḥ kāmayate manyamānḥ sa kāmabhirjāyate tatra tatra | paryāptakāmasya kr̥tātmanastu ihaiva sarve pravilīyanti kāmāḥ ||
“Who, deeming them real, desires desires is born by desires here and there; but for one whose desires are fulfilled, whose self is complete, all desires dissolve here itself.”
nāyamātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena | yamevaiṣa vr̥ṇute tena labhyastasyaiṣa ātmā vivr̥ṇute tanūṃ svām ||
“This Self is won not by teaching, intellect, or much hearing; whom alone it chooses, by him it is won — to him this Self reveals its own form.”
nāyamātmā balahīnena labhyo na ca pramādāt tapaso vāpyaliṅgāt | etairupāyairyatate yastu vidvāṃstasyaiṣa ātmā viśate brahmadhāma ||
“This Self is won not by the weak, nor by heedlessness, nor by lineless austerity; striving by these means, the knower's Self enters Brahman's abode.”
sṃprāpyainamr̥ṣayo jñānatr̥ptāḥ kr̥tātmāno vītarāgāḥ praśāntāḥ te sarvagṃ sarvatḥ prāpya dhīrā yuktātmānḥ sarvamevāviśanti ||
“Attaining him, the seers, content in knowledge, perfected, passionless, calm — those wise, their selves yoked, reaching the all-pervading everywhere, enter all.”
vedāntavijñānasuniścitārthāḥ sṃnyāsayogād yatayḥ śuddhasattvāḥ | te brahmalokeṣu parāntakāle parāmr̥tāḥ parimucyanti sarve ||
“Fixed in the meaning of Vedānta-wisdom, purified by renunciation's discipline — those striving ones, at life's end in Brahma-worlds, supremely immortal, are freed all.”
gatāḥ kalāḥ pañcadaśa pratiṣṭhā devāśca sarve pratidevatāsu | karmāṇi vijñānamayaśca ātmā pare'vyaye sarve ekībhavanti ||
“The fifteen parts return to their ground, all senses to their deities; deeds and the knowledge-made self all merge in the supreme undecaying.”
yathā nadyḥ syandamānāḥ samudre' stṃ gacchanti nāmarūpe vihāya | tathā vidvān nāmarūpādvimuktḥ parātparṃ puruṣamupaiti divyam ||
“As rivers flowing seaward abandon name and form in the ocean, so the knower, freed from name and form, reaches the divine Person beyond the beyond.”
sa yo ha vai tat paramṃ brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati nāsyābrahmavitkule bhavati | tarati śokṃ tarati pāpmānṃ guhāgranthibhyo vimukto'mr̥to bhavati ||
“Who knows that supreme Brahman becomes Brahman; none ignorant of Brahman is born in his line. He crosses sorrow, crosses evil, freed from the cave's knots, becomes immortal.”
tadetadr̥cā'bhyuktam | kriyāvantḥ śrotriyā brahmaniṣṭhāḥ svayṃ juhvata ekarṣiṃ śraddhayantḥ | teṣāmevaitāṃ brahmavidyāṃ vadeta śirovratṃ vidhivad yaistu cīrṇam ||
“So a verse declares: to the active, learned, Brahman-grounded who offer themselves with faith in the One seer — to them alone teach this knowledge of Brahman, duly observing the head-vow.”
tadetat satyamr̥ṣiraṅgirāḥ purovāca naitadacīrṇavrato'dhīte | namḥ paramar̥ṣibhyo namḥ paramar̥ṣibhyḥ ||
“This truth the seer Aṅgiras taught of old; none who has not kept the vow studies it. Homage to the highest seers, homage to the highest seers.”
hariḥ om | ॐ ityetadakṣaramida sarvṃ tasyopavyākhyānṃ bhūtṃ bhavad bhaviṣyaditi sarvamoṅkāra eva yaccānyat trikālātītṃ tadapyoṅkāra eva ||
“Hariḥ Om. Om — this syllable is all this; its exposition: past, present, future — all is Om alone, and whatever else lies beyond the three times is Om too.”
sarvṃ hyetad brahmāyamātmā brahma so'yamātmā catuṣpāt ||
“All this is Brahman; this Self is Brahman; and this same Self has four quarters.”
jāgaritasthāno bahiṣprajñḥ saptāṅga ekonaviṃśatimukhḥ sthūlabhugvaiśvānarḥ prathamḥ pādḥ ||
“The first quarter is Vaiśvānara, whose sphere is waking: outward-knowing, seven-limbed, nineteen-mouthed, enjoying gross things.”
svapnasthāno'ntḥprajñḥ saptāṅga ekonaviṃśatimukhḥ praviviktabhuktaijaso dvitīyḥ pādḥ ||
“The second quarter is Taijasa, whose sphere is dream: inward-knowing, seven-limbed, nineteen-mouthed, enjoying refined things.”
yatra supto na kañcana kāmṃ kāmayate na kañcana svapnṃ paśyati tat suṣuptam | suṣuptasthāna ekībhūtḥ prajñānaghana evānandamayo hyānandabhuk cetomukhḥ prājñastr̥tīyḥ pādḥ ||
“Where the sleeper desires no desire and sees no dream, that is deep sleep. Unified, a mass of knowing, blissful, enjoying bliss, with consciousness as its gate — the wise Prājña is the third quarter.”
eṣa sarveśvarḥ eṣa sarvajña eṣo'ntaryāmyeṣa yoniḥ sarvasya prabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām ||
“He is the lord of all, the knower of all, the inner ruler, the source of all; for from him come the origin and dissolution of beings.”
nāntḥprajñṃ na bahiṣprajñṃ nobhayatḥprajñṃ na prajñānaghanṃ na prajñṃ nāprajñam | adr̥ṣṭamavyavahāryamagrāhyamalakṣaṇṃ acintyamavyapadeśyamekātmapratyayasārṃ prapañcopaśamṃ śāntṃ śivamadvaitṃ caturthṃ manyante sa ātmā sa vijñeyḥ ||
“Not inward-knowing, not outward-knowing, not both, not a mass of knowing, not knowing, not unknowing — unseen, beyond dealing, ungraspable, without mark, unthinkable, indescribable, whose essence is the conviction of the one Self, the stilling of all display, peaceful, benign, non-dual: that they deem the fourth. That is the Self; that is to be known.”
so'yamātmādhyakṣaramoṅkāro'dhimātrṃ pādā mātrā mātrāśca pādā akāra ukāro makāra iti ||
“This same Self, with respect to syllables, is Om; with respect to measures, the quarters are the measures, and the measures are the quarters: a, u, m.”
jāgaritasthāno vaiśvānaro'kārḥ prathamā mātrā''pterādimattvād vā''pnoti ha vai sarvān kāmānādiśca bhavati ya evṃ veda ||
“Vaiśvānara of the waking state is the first measure, a — from pervading and being first; who knows this obtains all desires and becomes first.”
svapnasthānastaijasa ukāro dvitīyā mātrotkarṣāt ubhayatvādvotkarṣati ha vai jñānasantatiṃ samānaśca bhavati nāsyābrahmavitkule bhavati ya evṃ veda ||
“Taijasa of dream is the second measure, u — from exaltation and intermediacy; who knows this exalts the line of knowledge, becomes equal, and none ignorant of Brahman is born in his line.”
suṣuptasthānḥ prājño makārastr̥tīyā mātrā miterapītervā minoti ha vā idṃ sarvamapītiśca bhavati ya evṃ veda ||
“Prājña of deep sleep is the third measure, m — from measuring and merging; who knows this measures all this and becomes its merger.”
amātraścaturtho'vyavahāryḥ prapañcopaśamḥ śivo'dvaita evamoṅkāra ātmaiva sṃviśatyātmanā''tmānṃ ya evṃ veda ||
“Measureless is the fourth — beyond dealing, the stilling of display, benign, non-dual. Thus Om is the Self itself; who knows this enters the Self by the Self.”
ātmā vā idameka evāgra āsīnnānyatkiñcana miṣat | sa īkṣata lokānnu sr̥jā iti ||
“In the beginning this world was the Self alone, one only; nothing else blinked. It thought, 'Let me create the worlds.'”
sa imām̐llokānasr̥jata | ambho marīcīrmaramāpo'do'mbhḥ pareṇa divṃ dyauḥ pratiṣṭhā'ntarikṣṃ marīcayḥ | pr̥thivī maro yā adhastātta āpḥ ||
“It created these worlds: water, light, mortal things, and the waters above. The heaven beyond is water's support, the sky holds the lights, earth is mortal, and below lie the waters.”
sa īkṣateme nu lokā lokapālānnu sr̥jā iti || so'dbhya eva puruṣṃ samuddhr̥tyāmūrchayat ||
“It thought, 'These are the worlds; let me create guardians.' So from the waters it drew forth a Person and gave him form.”
tamabhyatapattasyābhitaptasya mukhṃ nirabhidyata yathā'ṇḍṃ mukhādvāgvāco'gnirnāsike nirabhidyetām nāsikābhyāṃ prāṇḥ | prāṇādvāyurakṣiṇī nirabhidyetāmakṣībhyāṃ cakṣuścakṣuṣa ādityḥ karṇau nirabhidyetāṃ karṇābhyāṃ śrotrṃ śrotraddiśastvaṅnirabhidyata tvaco lomāni lomabhya oṣadhivanaspatayo hr̥dayṃ nirabhidyata hr̥dayānmano manasaścandramā nābhirnirabhidyata nābhyā apāno'pānānmr̥tyuḥ śiśnṃ nirabhidyata śiśnādreto retasa āpḥ ||
“It brooded over him; from the heated one a mouth broke open like an egg — from mouth came speech, from speech fire; nostrils broke open — from nostrils breath, from breath wind; eyes broke open — from eyes sight, from sight the sun; ears broke open — from ears hearing, from hearing the quarters; skin broke open — from skin hairs, from hairs herbs and trees; heart broke open — from heart mind, from mind the moon; navel broke open — from navel the down-breath, from down-breath death; the organ broke open — from it seed, from seed the waters.”
tā etā devatāḥ sr̥ṣṭā asminmahatyarṇave prāpatan | tamaśanāpipāsābhyāmanvavārjat | tā enamabruvannāyatanṃ nḥ prajānīhi yasminpratiṣṭhitā annamadāmeti ||
“These deities, once created, fell into this great ocean, and hunger and thirst seized them. They said to it, 'Find us a dwelling where, established, we may eat food.'”
tābhyo gāmānayattā abruvanna vai no'yamalamiti | tābhyo'śvamānayattā abruvanna vai no'yamalamiti ||
“It brought them a cow; they said, 'This is not enough for us.' It brought them a horse; they said, 'This is not enough for us.'”
tābhyḥ puruṣamānayattā abruvan sukr̥tṃ bateti puruṣo vāva sukr̥tam | tā abravīdyathāyatanṃ praviśateti ||
“It brought them a person; they said, 'Well done indeed — a person is well made.' It told them, 'Enter each your own dwelling.'”
agnirvāgbhūtvā mukhṃ prāviśadvāyuḥ prāṇo bhūtvā nāsike prāviśadādityaścakṣurbhūtvā'kṣiṇī prāviśaddiśḥ śrotrṃ bhūtvā karṇau prāviśannoṣadhivanaspatayo lomāni bhūtvā tvacṃ prāviśṃścandramā mano bhūtvā hr̥dayṃ prāviśanmr̥tyurapāno bhūtvā nābhiṃ prāviśadāpo reto bhūtvā śiśnṃ prāviśan ||
“Fire became speech and entered the mouth; wind became breath and entered the nostrils; the sun became sight and entered the eyes; the quarters became hearing and entered the ears; herbs and trees became hairs and entered the skin; the moon became mind and entered the heart; death became down-breath and entered the navel; the waters became seed and entered the organ.”
tamaśanāyāpipāse abrūtāmāvābhyāmabhiprajānīhīti te abravīdetāsveva vāṃ devatāsvābhajāmyetāsu bhāginyau karomīti | tasmādyasyai kasyai ca devatāyai havirgr̥hyate bhāginyāvevāsyāmaśanāyāpipāse bhavatḥ ||
“Hunger and thirst said to it, 'Find a share for us two.' It said, 'In these very deities I give you a share; I make you partakers in them.' Hence for whatever deity an offering is taken, hunger and thirst partake in it.”
sa īkṣateme nu lokāśca lokapālāścānnamebhyḥ sr̥jā iti ||
“It thought, 'These are the worlds and their guardians; let me create food for them.'”
so'po'bhyatapattābhyo'bhitaptābhyo mūrtirajāyata | yā vai sā mūrtirajāyatānnṃ vai tat ||
“It brooded over the waters; from the heated waters form was born — and that form which was born is food.”
tadenatsr̥ṣṭṃ parāṅtyajighāṃsattadvācā'jighr̥kṣat tannāśaknodvācā grahītum | sa yaddhainadvācā'grahaiṣyadabhivyāhr̥tya haivānnamatrapsyat ||
“The created food turned to flee; it tried to seize it by speech but could not grasp it by speech. Had it grasped it by speech, one would be satisfied merely by speaking of food.”
tatprāṇenājighr̥kṣat tannāśaknotprāṇena grahītum | sa yaddhainatprāṇenāgrahaiṣyadabhiprāṇya haivānnamatrapsyat ||
“It tried to seize it by breath but could not grasp it by breath. Had it grasped it by breath, one would be satisfied merely by smelling food.”
taccakṣuṣā'jighr̥kṣat tannāśaknoccakṣuṣā grahītum | sa yaddhainaccakṣuṣā'grahaiṣyaddr̥ṣṭvā haivānamatrapsyat ||
“It tried to seize it by sight but could not grasp it by sight. Had it grasped it by sight, one would be satisfied merely by seeing food.”
tacchrotreṇājighr̥kṣat tannāśaknocchrotreṇa grahītum | sa yaddhainacchrotreṇāgrahaiṣyacchrutvā haivānnamatrapsyat ||
“It tried to seize it by hearing but could not grasp it by hearing. Had it grasped it by hearing, one would be satisfied merely by hearing of food.”
tattvacā'jighr̥kṣat tannāśaknottvacā grahītum | sa yaddhainattvacā'grahaiṣyat spr̥ṣṭvā haivānnamatrapsyat ||
“It tried to seize it by touch but could not grasp it by touch. Had it grasped it by touch, one would be satisfied merely by touching food.”
tanmanasā'jighr̥kṣat tannāśaknonmanasā grahītum | sa yaddhainanmanasā'grahaiṣyaddhyātvā haivānnamatrapsyat ||
“It tried to seize it by mind but could not grasp it by mind. Had it grasped it by mind, one would be satisfied merely by thinking of food.”
tacchiśnenājighr̥kṣat tannāśaknocchiśnena grahītum | sa yaddhainacchiśnenāgrahaiṣyadvitsr̥jya haivānamatrapsyat ||
“It tried to seize it by the organ but could not grasp it by the organ. Had it grasped it by the organ, one would be satisfied merely by emission.”
tadapānenājighr̥kṣat tadāvayat saiṣo'nnasya graho yadvāyuranāyurvā eṣa yadvāyuḥ ||
“It tried to seize it by the down-breath — and caught it. This is the grasper of food: wind; for wind is the grasper, since it is wind.”
sa īkṣata kathṃ nvidṃ madr̥te syāditi sa īkṣata katareṇa prapadyā iti | sa īkṣata yadi vācā'bhivyāhr̥tṃ yadi prāṇenābhiprāṇitṃ yadi cakṣuṣā dr̥ṣṭṃ yadi śrotreṇa śrutṃ yadi tvacā spr̥ṣṭṃ yadi manasā dhyātṃ yadyapānenābhyapānitṃ yadi śiśnena visr̥ṣṭamatha ko'hamiti ||
“It thought, 'How could this exist without me?' It thought, 'By which way shall I enter?' It thought, 'If speech speaks, breath breathes, sight sees, hearing hears, touch touches, mind thinks, down-breath digests, the organ emits — then who am I?'”
sa etameva sīmānṃ vidaryaitayā dvārā prāpadyata | saiṣā vidr̥tirnāma dvāstadetannā'ndanam | tasya traya āvasathāstrayḥ svapnā ayamāvasatho'yamāvasatho'yamāvasatha iti ||
“Splitting this very crown of the head, it entered by that gate. That gate is called Vidṛti (the cleft); that is Nāndana (the blissful). Of it there are three dwellings, three dream-states: this dwelling, this dwelling, this dwelling.”
sa jāto bhūtānyabhivyaikhyat kimihānyṃ vāvadiṣaditi | sa etameva puruṣṃ brahma tatamamapaśyat | idamadarśanamitī 3 ||
“Once born, it surveyed beings: 'What else here would speak of another?' It saw only this Person, Brahman, the supreme. 'I have seen this' — with protracted awe.”