Verse 1

Kaivalya

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

ॐ अथाश्वलायनो भगवन्तं परमेष्ठिनमुपसमेत्योवाच । अधीहि भगवन् ब्रह्मविद्यां वरिष्ठां सदा सद्भिः सेव्यमानां निगूढाम् । यथाऽचिरात् सर्वपापं व्यपोह्य परात्परं पुरुषं याति विद्वान् ॥१॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

ॐ । अथ । आश्वलायनः । भगवन्तम् । परमेष्ठिनम् । उपसमेत्य । उवाच । अधीहि । भगवन् । ब्रह्म-विद्याम् । वरिष्ठाम् । सदा । सद्भिः । सेव्यमानाम् । निगूढाम् । यथा । अचिरात् । सर्व-पापम् । व्यपोह्य । परात्-परम् । पुरुषम् । याति । विद्वान् ॥१॥

IAST Transliteration

oṃ athāśvalāyano bhagavantaṃ parameṣṭhinam upasametyovāca | adhīhi bhagavan brahmavidyāṃ variṣṭhāṃ sadā sadbhiḥ sevyamānāṃ nigūḍhām | yathā'cirāt sarvapāpaṃ vyapohya parātparaṃ puruṣaṃ yāti vidvān ||1||

Translation

ॐ তখন আশ্বলায়ন ভগবান্ পরমেষ্ঠিনের নিকট গিয়ে বললেন—হে ভগবন্, আমাকে শ্রেষ্ঠ ব্রহ্মবিদ্যা শিক্ষা দিন—যা সদা সৎজনদের দ্বারা অনুশীলিত ও গূঢ়; যার দ্বারা জ্ঞানী অচিরেই সকল পাপ দূর করে পরাত্পর পুরুষকে লাভ করে॥১॥

Academic Translation

Om. Then Āśvalāyana, approaching the Blessed Parameṣṭhin, said: “Teach, O Lord, the knowledge of Brahman—the highest—ever practiced by the good and kept secret—by which the knower, quickly removing all sin, attains the Person who is beyond the beyond.”

Verse Context

• Brahmavidyā leading to mokṣa (purification from pāpa and realization of the Parātpara Puruṣa/Brahman)
• Mahavakya: Preparatory to mahāvākya realization: frames the pursuit of Brahman-knowledge that culminates in identity-teachings such as “ahaṃ brahmāsmi” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka) and “tat tvam asi” (Chāndogya).
• Atharva
• Atharva-veda (Kaivalya Upaniṣad; commonly transmitted in Atharva tradition; specific śākhā not firmly fixed in surviving recensions) Shakha
• Chandas: Prose (mixed upaniṣadic prose with metrical cadence)