Paingala Upanishad 1 — Verse 1

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

अथ हैनं पैङ्गलः प्रपच्छ याज्ञवल्क्यं—ज्ञानिनः किं कर्म, का च स्थितिरिति ॥१॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

अथ । ह । एनम् । पैङ्गलः । प्रपच्छ । याज्ञवल्क्यम् । ज्ञानिनः । किम् । कर्म । का । च । स्थितिः । इति ॥१॥

IAST Transliteration

atha hainam paiṅgalaḥ prapaccha yājñavalkyaṃ—jñāninaḥ kiṃ karma, kā ca sthitir iti ||1||

Translation

അപ്പോൾ പൈംഗലൻ യാജ്ഞവൽക്ക്യനോടു ചോദിച്ചു— “ബ്രഹ്മജ്ഞാനിക്കു ചെയ്യേണ്ട കര്‍മ്മം എന്ത്? അവന്റെ സ്ഥിതി (നിഷ്ഠ/അവസ്ഥിതി) എന്താണ്?”

Academic Translation

Then Paiṅgala questioned Yājñavalkya: “For a knower (of Brahman), what action (is to be done), and what indeed is his state (abidance)?”

Verse Context

• Jñānin (Brahmavid), karma vs. jñāna, sthitaprajñatā/abidance in Brahman
• Mahavakya: Frames the post-realization standpoint implied by mahāvākyas (e.g., ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’): once identity-knowledge dawns, what is the role of action and how is abidance understood?
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose