Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 1.1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
अथर्वणे यां प्रवदेत ब्रह्मा अथर्वा तां पुरोवाच आङ्गिरे ब्रह्मविद्याम् ।
स भारद्वाजाय सत्यवाहाय प्राह भारद्वाजः आङ्गिरसे परावराम् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
atharvaṇe yāṃ pravadeta brahmā atharvā tāṃ purovāca āṅgire brahmavidyām |
sa bhāradvājāya satyavāhāya prāha bhāradvājaḥ āṅgirase parāvarām ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथर्वणेatharvaṇeto Atharva; to the sage Atharvan
याम्yāmwhich; that
प्रवदेतpravadetadeclared; he handed on
ब्रह्माbrahmāBrahmā; the first creator
अथर्वाatharvāAtharvan; the sage Atharva
ताम्tāmit; this knowledge
पुराpurāof old (purā — 'in ancient times'); in antiquity; of old
उवाचuvācahe said; he handed on
आङ्गिरेāṅgireto Aṅgir; to the sage Aṅgiras
ब्रह्मविद्याम्brahmavidyāmthe brahma-vidyā; the knowledge of Brahman
सःsaḥhe; that one
भारद्वाजायbhāradvājāyato Bhāradvāja; to the sage Bhāradvāja
सत्यवाहायsatyavāhāyato Satyavāha ('the bearer of truth'); to Satyavāha Bhāradvāja; to the carrier of truth
प्राहprāhahe handed on; he communicated
भारद्वाजःbhāradvājaḥBhāradvāja; the sage Bhāradvāja
आङ्गिरसेāṅgiraseto Aṅgir; to the descendant of Aṅgiras
परावराम्parāvarām[the knowledge] of the higher and the lower (para-avara); the science of the higher and the lower; the knowing of both levels
Translation
That brahma-vidyā which Brahmā declared to Atharvan, Atharvan of old handed on to Aṅgir; he told it to Satyavāha Bhāradvāja, and Bhāradvāja to Aṅgiras: [the knowledge] of the higher and the lower.
Version
50a3d34248ff · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second verse continues the roll of links: Brahmā → Atharvan → Aṅgir → Satyavāha Bhāradvāja → Aṅgiras. Every name is like a ring of chain mail: the Upaniṣad is deliberately detailed, for in that detail lies its warrant: the knowledge came not from an anonymous "they say" but along a chain of named witnesses, from hand to hand. So paramparā — succession — works: truth is kept by the living, as fire is kept from lamp to lamp, losing nothing of the flame.
parāvarām — the closing word of the verse, a characterisation of the knowledge itself: "[the science] of the higher-and-lower" (para-avara). What is handed on is not "the higher" in isolation but the knowledge of both levels in their right relation: what is the goal and what the means; what is the Ocean and what the rivers. Precisely this discrimination will be Aṅgiras' first answer to Śaunaka (verses 4–5): the two vidyās.
The knowledge "of the higher and the lower" is the rarest of skills: those who know only the lower are legion (all the sciences of the world), those who flee into "the higher only" are not few; those who can hold the whole ladder without confusing its rungs are a handful — and only they can lead others. Therefore the Upaniṣad, before it teaches, presents its teachers.