Kena Upanishad: Verse 2.2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

नाहं मन्ये सुवेदेति नो न वेदेति वेद च । यो नस्तद्वेद तद्वेद नो न वेदेति वेद च ॥२॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

न । अहम् । मन्ये । सु-वेद । इति । न । उ । न । वेद । इति । वेद । च । यः । नः । तत् । वेद । तत् । वेद । नः । उ । न । वेद । इति । वेद । च ॥

Recitation with translationKena Upanishad 2.2

IAST Transliteration

nāhaṃ manye suvedeti no na vedeti veda ca | yo nas tad veda tad veda no na vedeti veda ca ||2||

Translation

ข้าพเจ้าไม่สำคัญว่า “เรารู้พระพรหมันดีแล้ว”; และก็ไม่สำคัญว่า “เราไม่รู้” ผู้ใดในหมู่เรารู้พระพรหมัน ผู้นั้นย่อมรู้ และย่อมรู้ด้วยว่า พระองค์มิใช่วัตถุที่รู้ได้ตามวิถีสามัญ

Ask anything about this verse...Ask

Academic Translation

I do not think, ‘I know it well’; nor (do I think), ‘I do not know.’ He among us who knows that (Brahman) knows it; and (he) knows also that (it is) not (an object) known (in the ordinary way).

Verse Context

• Brahman as beyond objectifying knowledge (aparokṣa-jñāna; limits of pramāṇa)
• Mahavakya: Supports the purport of ‘प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म’ by distinguishing immediate awareness of Brahman from conceptual/object-knowledge; also aligns with ‘अहं ब्रह्मास्मि’ insofar as Brahman is not an external object to be ‘known’.
• Sama
• Jaiminīya (Talavakāra) Shakha
• Chandas: Prose (Upaniṣadic gadya with rhythmic cadence)