Nirvana Upanishad: Verse 4
अथ निर्वाणोपनिषदं व्याख्यास्यामः । परमहंसः सोऽहम् । परिव्राजकाः पश्चिमलिङ्गाः । मन्मथः क्षेत्रपालः । गगनसिद्धान्तः अमृतकल्लोलनदी । अक्षयं निरञ्जनम् । निःसंशय ऋषिः । निर्वाणो देवता । निष्कुलप्रवृत्तिः । निष्केवलज्ञानम् ॥१-११॥
अथ । निर्वाण-उपनिषदम् । व्याख्यास्यामः । परमहंसः । सः । अहम् । परिव्राजकाः । पश्चिम-लिङ्गाः । मन्मथः । क्षेत्र-पालः । गगन-सिद्धान्तः । अमृत-कल्लोल-नदी । अक्षयम् । निरञ्जनम् । निःसंशयः । ऋषिः । निर्वाणः । देवता । निष्कुल-प्रवृत्तिः । निष्केवल-ज्ञानम् ॥
atha nirvāṇopaniṣadaṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ | paramahaṃsaḥ so’ham | parivrājakāḥ paścimaliṅgāḥ | manmathaḥ kṣetrapālaḥ | gaganasiddhāntaḥ amṛtakallolanadī | akṣayaṃ nirañjanam | niḥsaṃśaya ṛṣiḥ | nirvāṇo devatā | niṣkulapravṛttiḥ | niṣkevalajñānam ||1-11||
अथ निर्वाणोपनिषदं व्याख्यास्यामः। परमहंसः सोऽहम्। परिव्राजकाः पश्चिमलिङ्गाः। मन्मथः क्षेत्रपालः। गगनसिद्धान्तः अमृतकल्लोलनदी। अक्षयं निरञ्जनम्। निःसंशय ऋषिः। निर्वाणो देवता। निष्कुलप्रवृत्तिः। निष्केवलज्ञानम्॥१-११॥
Now we shall expound the Nirvāṇa Upaniṣad. “I am the Paramahaṃsa.” The wandering renunciants are the ‘western marks (liṅgas)’. Manmatha is the guardian of the sacred precinct. The doctrine is the ‘conclusion of the sky’; the river is the ‘nectar-river with waves’. (The goal is) the imperishable, the stainless. The seer is ‘Free-from-doubt’. The deity is Nirvāṇa. The activity is ‘without clan/lineage’. The knowledge is ‘non-dual, absolute knowledge’.
- so’ham resolved as saḥ + aham (visarga sandhi: aḥ + a → o’). Other items are largely compounds written in pada form
- nirvāṇopaniṣadam treated as nirvāṇa-upaniṣadam (tatpuruṣa)
About this Verse
- Central concept
- Moksha (Nirvāṇa) through non-dual knowledge (Advaita jñāna) and renunciation (saṃnyāsa/paramahaṃsa ideal)
- The mahavakyas
- Directly echoes ‘अहं ब्रह्मास्मि’ (Aham Brahmāsmi) via ‘सोऽहम्’ identity; supports Mahāvākya methodology of self-Brahman identity
- Veda
- Atharva
- Chandas
- Prose
Yoga and practice
So’ham-japa and nididhyāsana on identity with the Paramahaṃsa-Self; vairāgya-based pratyāhāra (withdrawal from social/ritual identifiers); meditation on ‘ākāśa’ (space) as symbol of all-pervasiveness; dissolution of doubt through śravaṇa–manana–nididhyāsana
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