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

তখন ভগবান ব্রহ্মা বললেন—আমরা সেই উপনিষদের ব্যাখ্যা করব, যার পরম তাত্পর্য অপরোক্ষ (সাক্ষাৎ) অনুবব। এটি গোপনীয়তার মধ্যেও পরম গোপন; প্রাকৃত (সাংসারিক, অপরিশুদ্ধ) ব্যক্তিকে উপদেশ দেওয়া উচিত নয়। সাত্ত্বিক, অন্তর্মুখ এবং শ্রদ্ধায় মনোযোগ দিয়ে শ্রবণ করতে ইচ্ছুক ব্যক্তিকেই এটি প্রদানীয়॥

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