Upanishads · Praśna 6.7
॥
Devanāgarī
तान् होवाच ।
एतावद् एवाहम् एतत् परं ब्रह्म वेद ।
नातः परम् अस्तीति
Transliteration (IAST)
tān hovāca |
etāvad evāham etat paraṃ brahma veda |
nātaḥ param astīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तान् ह उवाचtān ha uvācato them he said; he addressed them
एतावत् एवetāvat evajust so far (etāvat); precisely this much; to this measure
अहम्ahamI; I myself
एतत्etatthis; the present
परम् ब्रह्मparam brahmathe supreme Brahman (param brahma); the sovereign Brahman; the Highest
वेदvedaI know; I am aware
न अतःna ataḥnothing beyond this (na ataḥ param); beyond this there is none; further there is nothing
परम्paramof the highest; anything further
अस्ति इतिasti iti'there is', thus; exists
Translation
And he said to them: "Just so far do I know this supreme Brahman. Beyond this there is nothing."
Version
7e5783a11942 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:35:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Pippalāda's last words to his pupils: etāvad evāham etat paraṁ brahma veda — "just so far do I know this supreme Brahman"; nātaḥ param asti — "beyond this there is nothing". Two sentences — and in them the teacher's double perfection.
The first is measure: etāvat, "so far". Having answered six questions — from the origin of creatures to the Puruṣa of sixteen parts — he draws the boundary of what has been said: I have handed on what I know; my knowledge is true — and it is mine, to my own measure. Not a drop beyond what he has seen: the same law of truth for which Sukeśā (verse 60) preferred "I do not know" to a lie — now from the other side: "I know — just this far."
The second is the limit: na ataḥ param asti — "beyond this there is nothing": what has been spoken of is not a storey with further storeys above it: the Puruṣa is the roof of being (the Kaṭha: puruṣān na paraṁ kiñcit — "beyond the Puruṣa there is nothing: that is the goal, that the highest way"). The teacher closes off also the ladder of a vain "and what comes next?": next comes not knowledge but a life lived in what has been known. So the instruction ends; only the pupils' answer remains — thanksgiving.