Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1,3.11
॥
Devanāgarī
सा वा एषा देवता एतासाम् देवतानाम् पाप्मानम् मृत्युम् अपहत्य अथ एनाः मृत्युम् अत्यवहत्
Transliteration (IAST)
sā vā eṣā devatā etāsām devatānām pāpmānam mṛtyum apahatya atha enāḥ mṛtyum atyavahat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
साsāshe; that one
वाvātruly; surely
एषाeṣāthis; she
देवताdevatāthe deity; divine power
एतासाम्etāsāmof these; of them
देवतानाम्devatānāmof the deities; of the divine powers
पाप्मानम्pāpmānamevil; sin
मृत्युम्mṛtyumdeath; dying
अपहत्यapahatyahaving cast off; having removed
अथathathereupon; further
एनाःenāḥof them; of these
मृत्युम्mṛtyumdeath; dying
अत्यवहत्atyavahatit carried beyond (ati + √vah); it ferried across; it carried past
Translation
This deity, having beaten off evil and death from those deities, then carried them beyond death.
Version
cb269f30dc5a · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:39:35 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The prāṇa's second deed is higher than the first: to beat off evil is not enough — it "carried them beyond death" (mṛtyum atyavahat). The wounded singers — speech, smell, eye, ear, mind — are not merely healed: they are ferried across to where death does not act. Breath becomes a carrier, a ferryman for its brethren over the river of death.
The verses that follow will show each ferrying separately: speech will become fire, breath the wind, the eye the sun… The senses that served themselves and were pierced, once entrusted to the pure prāṇa, are deified — the full circle of redemption. What is wounded in us is not thrown away: give it to the Life that serves all, and it will come back as an immortal luminary. So bhakti deals with the senses: it does not stifle them but harnesses them to service — and the eye that saw "what is unseemly" learns to see the Lord.