Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 2,4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सा होवाच मैत्रेयी येन अहम् न अमृता स्याम् किम् अहम् तेन कुर्याम् यद् एव भगवान् वेद तद् एव मे ब्रूहि इति
Transliteration (IAST)
sā hovāca maitreyī yena aham na amṛtā syām kim aham tena kuryām yad eva bhagavān veda tad eva me brūhi iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
साsāshe; that one
होवाचhovācahe said; He spoke
मैत्रेयीmaitreyīMaitreyī; the wise Maitreyī
येनyenaby which; by means of which
अहम्ahamI; Himself
नnanot; no
अमृताamṛtāimmortal; undying
स्याम्syāmI should become; let me be
किम्kimwhat; in what manner
अहम्ahamI; Himself
तेनtenato them; by means of him
कुर्याम्kuryāmshould I do (from √kṛ, optative); I shall do; to do
यद्yadwhen; that which
एवevaindeed; only
भगवान्bhagavānmy lord (bhagavat); venerable one; sir
वेदvedaknows; realises
तद्tadthat; this
एवevaindeed; only
मेmemyself; in my house
ब्रूहिbrūhitell (from √brū, imperative); tell him; tell
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Maitreyī said: "What shall I do with that by which I shall not become immortal? What you know, my lord — tell me that."
Version
cc82777788a9 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:54:37 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Maitreyī's answer is a lightning-stroke of resolve: yenāhaṁ nāmṛtā syām kim ahaṁ tena kuryām — "what shall I do with that by which I shall not become immortal?" Half the world is offered — and pushed aside with one movement, like dishes off a table. It is the question worth applying to every acquisition: does it make one immortal? no? — then why is it here instead of the one thing needful?
And then the best of a pupil's requests: "what you know — tell me that": not a part, not an adaptation for a wife — everything you know yourself. Maitreyī demands the full measure, and by that compels the full measure: great teachings are given to those who have refused the consoling halves. She stands in the line of the great refusers — Naciketas, who declined the chariots and the maidens; Nārada, who called all the sciences "only a name" — and in that line she is the only one who chose against her own inheritance, on the threshold of a parting.