Verse 28

Atma

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

नावृत्तिर्ब्रह्मणः क्वाचिदन्याभावादनावृतम् । अस्तीति प्रत्ययो यश्च यश्च नास्तीति वस्तुनि ॥

बुद्धेरेव गुणावेतौ न तु नित्यस्य वस्तुनः । अतस्तौ मायया क्लृप्तौ बन्धमोक्षौ न चात्मनि ॥ २८–२९ ॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

न । आवृत्तिः । ब्रह्मणः । क्वचित् । अन्य-अभावात् । अनावृतम् ।

अस्ति-इति । प्रत्ययः । यः । च । यः । च । न-अस्ति-इति । वस्तुनि ।

बुद्धेः । एव । गुणौ । एतौ । न । तु । नित्यस्य । वस्तुनः ।

अतः । तौ । मायया । क्लृप्तौ । बन्ध-मोक्षौ । न । च । आत्मनि ।

IAST Transliteration

nāvṛttir brahmaṇaḥ kvacid anyābhāvād anāvṛtam | astīti pratyayo yaś ca yaś ca nāstīti vastuni ||

buddher eva guṇāv etau na tu nityasya vastunaḥ | atas tau māyayā klṛptau bandhamokṣau na cātmani || 28–29 ||

Translation

ব্রহ্মের কোথাও আচ্ছাদন নেই; কারণ ব্রহ্ম ব্যতীত অন্য কিছুর অভাব, তাই তিনি সর্বদা অনাবৃত। কোনো বস্তুকে নিয়ে ‘আছে’ এবং ‘নেই’—এই দুই প্রত্যয়ই বুদ্ধির গুণ, নিত্য সত্যবস্তুর নয়।

Academic Translation

There is no covering of Brahman anywhere, for, due to the absence of anything other (than Brahman), it is uncovered. The cognition ‘it exists’ and the cognition ‘it does not exist’ with regard to a thing—both are qualities of the intellect alone, not of the eternal Reality. Therefore those two—bondage and liberation—are fabricated by māyā and are not in the Self.

Verse Context

Non-duality (absence of a second); epistemic status of existence/nonexistence judgments; māyā as cognitive constructionMahavakya: Reinforces Mahāvākya import: Brahman is self-revealing; ‘I am Brahman’ is not producing a new state but correcting buddhi’s notions of being/nonbeing.AtharvaChandas: Anuṣṭubh (śloka-style)