Devi Upanishad 2: Verse 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

सर्वे वै देवा देवीम् उपतस्थुः । कासि त्वं महादेवि । सा अब्रवीत्—अहं ब्रह्मस्वरूपिणी । मत्तः प्रकृतिपुरुषात्मकं जगत् शून्यं च अशून्यं च । अहम् आनन्दानानन्दाः, विज्ञानाविज्ञाने अहम् । ब्रह्मा ब्रह्मणि वेदितव्ये । इत्य् आह अथर्वणि श्रुतिः ॥१–२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

सर्वे । वै । देवा: । देवीम् । उपतस्थुः । का । असि । त्वम् । महादेवि । सा । अब्रवीत् । अहम् । ब्रह्म-स्वरूपिणी । मत्तः । प्रकृति-पुरुष-आत्मकम् । जगत् । शून्यम् । च । अशून्यम् । च । अहम् । आनन्दान् । अनानन्दा: । विज्ञान- अविज्ञाने । अहम् । ब्रह्मा । ब्रह्मणि । वेदितव्ये । इति । आह । अथर्वणि । श्रुति: ।

Recitation with translationDevi Upanishad 2

IAST Transliteration

sarve vai devā devīm upatasthuḥ | kāsi tvaṃ mahādevi | sā abravīt—ahaṃ brahmasvarūpiṇī | mattaḥ prakṛtipuruṣātmakaṃ jagac chūnyaṃ cāśūnyaṃ ca | aham ānandān anānandāḥ, vijñānāvijñāne aham | brahmā brahmaṇi veditavye | ity āha atharvaṇi śrutiḥ ||1–2||

Translation

Truly, all the gods approached the Goddess and stood near in reverence. “Who are you, O Great Goddess?” She replied: “I am of the very nature of Brahman. From me arises the world whose character is Prakṛti and Puruṣa—void and also non-void. I am bliss and non-bliss; I am knowledge and non-knowledge. Brahmā is to be known in Brahman.” Thus declares the Atharvanic śruti.

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Academic Translation

All the gods indeed approached the Goddess and stood near (in reverence). “Who are you, O Great Goddess?” She said: “I am of the nature of Brahman. From me arises the world whose character is Prakṛti and Puruṣa—both void and non-void. I am the blissful and the non-blissful; I am knowledge and non-knowledge. Brahmā (the creator) is to be known in Brahman.” Thus speaks the Atharvanic śruti.

Verse Context

• Identity of Devī with Brahman; transcendence of dualities
• Mahavakya: Reinforces ‘ayam ātmā brahma’ and ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’ by first-person identification of the supreme with the self-revealing Devī.
• Atharva
• Atharvaveda (Śaunaka tradition; Upaniṣad transmitted in Atharva-upaniṣad corpus) Shakha
• Chandas: Prose (gadya)