Verse 6

Mundaka

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः । येनाऽऽक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥६॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

सत्यम् एव । जयते । न । अनृतम् । सत्येन । पन्थाः । विततः । देव-यानः । येन । आ-क्रमन्ति । ऋषयः । हि । आप्त-कामाः । यत्र । तत् । सत्यस्य । परम् । निधानम् ॥६॥

IAST Transliteration

satyam eva jayate nānṛtaṃ satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ | yenākrāmanty ṛṣayo hy āptakāmā yatra tat satyasya paramaṃ nidhānam ||6||

Translation

সত্যই জয়ী হয়, অসত্য নয়। সত্য দ্বারা দেবযান পথ প্রসারিত; সেই পথেই আপ্তকাম ঋষিরা আরোহণ করেন, যেখানে সত্যের পরম নিধান॥৬॥

Academic Translation

Truth alone prevails, not untruth. By truth the path is stretched out—the divine path—by which the seers, whose desires are fulfilled, ascend to where that supreme treasure-house of Truth is.

Verse Context

• Satya as the means to Brahma-prāpti (realization of Brahman); Mokṣa through सत्य/ऋत and ज्ञान
• Mahavakya: Supports the epistemic-ethical ground for realizing ‘अहं ब्रह्मास्मि’ (Bṛhadāraṇyaka) and ‘तत् त्वम् असि’ (Chāndogya): सत्य (truthfulness/accord with reality) as a prerequisite for Brahma-jñāna; not itself a mahāvākya.
• Atharva
• Atharvaṇa (Śaunaka-śākhā; traditionally transmitted within Atharvavedic recensions) Shakha
• Chandas: Mixed/Upaniṣadic verse (often classed under Triṣṭubh/Jagatī-type cadence in Atharvavedic Upaniṣads; not strictly uniform)