Verse 1

Mahavakya

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

अथ होवाच भगवान् ब्रह्मा—अपरोक्षानुभवपरोपनिषदं व्याख्यास्यामः। गुह्याद् गुह्यपरमेषा न प्राकृतायोपदेष्टव्या। सात्त्विकायान्तर्मुखाय परिशुश्रूषवे॥१–२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

अथ । होवाच । भगवान् । ब्रह्मा । अपरोक्ष-अनुभव-पर-उपनिषदम् । व्याख्यास्यामः । गुह्यात् । गुह्य-परमा । एषा । न । प्राकृताय । उपदेष्टव्या । सात्त्विकाय । अन्तर्मुखाय । परिशुश्रूषवे ॥

IAST Transliteration

atha hovāca bhagavān brahmā—aparokṣānubhavaparopaniṣadaṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ | guhyād guhyaparamaiṣā na prākṛtāyopadeṣṭavyā | sāttvikāyāntarmukhāya pariśuśrūṣave ||1–2||

Translation

ثم قال الإله المبارك براهما: «سنشرح الأوبانيشاد التي غايتها العليا التحقّق المباشر. إنّ هذا التعليم سرّ الأسرار، فلا يُلقَّن لمن غلبت عليه الدنيوية والخشونة. إنما يُعطى لمن كان ساتفِكًا، مُنصرفًا إلى الباطن، مُواظبًا على الإصغاء المتأمّل».

Academic Translation

Then the Blessed Brahmā said: “We shall expound the Upaniṣad whose supreme purport is direct (immediate) realization. This (teaching) is most secret among secrets; it is not to be taught to one who is ‘worldly’ (unrefined). It is to be imparted to one who is sāttvika, inward-turned, and intent on attentive listening.”

Verse Context

• Aparokṣānubhava (immediate realization) and adhikāritva (fitness of the student)
• Mahavakya: Sets the pedagogical frame for mahāvākya-based inquiry: the teaching aims at aparokṣa-jñāna typically catalyzed by sentences like ‘tat tvam asi’ and ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose