Upanishads · Aitareya 2.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् स्त्रियाः आत्मभूयम् गच्छति यथा स्वम् अङ्गम् तथा तस्मात् एनाम् न हिनस्ति सा अस्य एतम् आत्मानम् अत्र गतम् भावयति
Transliteration (IAST)
tat striyāḥ ātmabhūyam gacchati yathā svam aṅgam tathā tasmāt enām na hinasti sā asya etam ātmānam atra gatam bhāvayati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
स्त्रियाःstriyāḥof the woman; of the mother
आत्मभूयम्ātmabhūyamidentity with her own self (ātma-bhūya — 'self-becoming'); becoming her very self; fusion with her being
गच्छतिgacchatigoes; attains
यथाyathāas; like
स्वम्svamher own; one's own
अङ्गम्aṅgamlimb (aṅga); part of the body; organ
तथाtathāso; in that way
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
एनाम्enāmher; this woman
नnanot; no
हिनस्तिhinastiit harms (from √hiṁs); it injures; it does damage to
साsāshe; this one
अस्यasyaof him; his
एतम्etamthis; the present
आत्मानम्ātmānamself; own being
अत्रatrahere; hither
गतम्gatamcome; having entered
भावयतिbhāvayatishe fosters (causative of √bhū — 'she makes to be'); she rears; she carries and nourishes
Translation
It becomes one with the very self of the woman — as her own limb; therefore [the child] does her no harm. She fosters this self of his, which has come here.
Version
f2c09f08a976 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mystery of gestation: tat striyā ātma-bhūyaṁ gacchati — "it [the seed] enters into the self-being of the woman": yathā svam aṅgaṁ tathā — "as her own limb": another's life becomes her body — the one case in nature where "another" is received without remainder into "I": the mother is a living lesson in non-duality, taught by the flesh itself. tasmād enāṁ na hinasti — "therefore it does her no harm": the foetus is not rejected — it is her own.
sāsyaitam ātmānam atra gataṁ bhāvayati — "she fosters (bhāvayati — 'she causes to be', a causative of 'to be'!) this self of his, come hither": the mother is a co-creator: she literally makes the being of the one who has come, bringing the entered soul up into the light.
The Upaniṣad builds a theology of motherhood: as the Creator warmed the Puruṣa with the tapas of His gaze, so the mother warms with herself the one who has entered — motherhood reproduces the first creation; every pregnant woman repeats the cosmogony. Hence, for all ages, the sacred inviolability of a mother: in her is accomplished what Brahmā accomplished over the waters.