Upanishads · Kena 1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
यच् छ्रोत्रेण न शृणोति येन श्रोत्रम् इदं श्रुतम् ।
तद् एव ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यद् इदम् उपासते ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
yac chrotreṇa na śṛṇoti yena śrotram idaṃ śrutam |
tad eva brahma tvaṃ viddhi nedaṃ yad idam upāsate ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्yatwhat; that which
श्रोत्रेणśrotreṇaby the ear; by hearing
नnanot; no
शृणोतिśṛṇotihears; listens
येनyenaby which; thanks to which
श्रोत्रम्śrotramthe ear; hearing
इदम्idamthis; the present
श्रुतम्śrutamis heard (participle of √śru — 'to hear'); is made audible; is perceived by hearing
तत्tatthat; precisely this
एवevaindeed; truly
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the Absolute
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
विद्धिviddhiknow; understand
नnanot; no
इदम्idamthis; this here
यत्yatwhich; that which
इदम्idamthis; here
उपासतेupāsatethey worship; they contemplate
Translation
That which the ear does not hear, but by which this hearing is heard — know that alone to be Brahman, and not what men here worship.
Version
00c9da5c408b · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:28:41 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth step — hearing. The ear catches sounds, but the very ground of audibility is not "audible" to it: He by whom "hearing is heard" stands on this side of every sound — nearer to us than anything heard.
The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.19) says out loud what is implied here: apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛṇoty akarṇaḥ — "without hands He grasps, without feet He is swift, without eyes He sees, without ears He hears". The negations take from Him material organs but not the capacities themselves: He hears — without an ear, with perfect hearing. For the spiritual life this is not a subtlety but everything: the Lord of hearing is Himself the perfect Hearer, and therefore prayer does not go out into emptiness — before we have finished speaking, He has heard.
And it is no accident that of the five gates of perception hearing is foremost in the tradition: revelation is called śruti, "what is heard", and the path begins with śravaṇa, listening. He who gave hearing gave it so that along it, as along a thread, the heart might return to Him — by hearing about Him.