Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1,5.9
॥
Devanāgarī
यत् किञ्च विजिज्ञास्यम् मनसः तद् रूपम् मनः हि विजिज्ञास्यम् मनः एनम् तद् भूत्वा अवति
Transliteration (IAST)
yat kiñca vijijñāsyam manasaḥ tad rūpam manaḥ hi vijijñāsyam manaḥ enam tad bhūtvā avati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत्yatthat which; that which
किञ्चkiñcaanything; all that
विजिज्ञास्यम्vijijñāsyamwhat is to be known; what must be learned
मनसःmanasaḥof the mind (manas, genitive); than the mind; than the mind
तद्tadthat; this
रूपम्rūpamthe form (rūpa); shape; form
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
हिhiindeed; truly
विजिज्ञास्यम्vijijñāsyamwhat is to be known; what must be learned
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thinking
एनम्enamit; of this
तद्tadthat; this
भूत्वाbhūtvāhaving become; having turned into
अवतिavatihe defends; sustains
Translation
Whatever is to be known is a form of the mind, for the mind is what is to be known; having become that, it protects [the knower].
Version
0c3062f14b9c · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:48:21 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second province is the to-be-known, and it is given to the mind: everything still to be understood lives in the mind as a question, a surmise, a design. The mind is the front line of knowledge, its tomorrow; it is itself "what is to be known", for every question is a state of mind.
And it too "protects": an honest question guards a man no worse than a ready answer — a questioning mind will not let its owner petrify in what he has learned by rote. The triad of knowledge is laid out as time: speech is knowledge's past, the mind its present-and-future, and there remains the unknown, whose guardian is the breath.