Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 2,4.4
॥
Devanāgarī
सः होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः प्रिया बत अरे नः सती प्रियम् भाषसे एहि आस्स्व व्याख्यास्यामि ते व्याचक्षाणस्य तु मे निदिध्यासस्व इति
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ priyā bata are naḥ satī priyam bhāṣase ehi āssva vyākhyāsyāmi te vyācakṣāṇasya tu me nididhyāsasva iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥhe; that one
होवाचhovācahe said; He spoke
याज्ञवल्क्यःyājñavalkyaḥYājñavalkya; the sage Yājñavalkya
प्रियाpriyādear (priyā); beloved; the road
बतbatatruly; truly
अरेareO dear one; O
नःnaḥour; for us
सतीsatībeing; appearing
प्रियम्priyamwhat is dear; what is dear
भाषसेbhāṣaseyou speak (from √bhāṣ); you declare; you say
एहिehicome (from √i, imperative); come near; go on
आस्स्वāssvasit down (from √ās, imperative); be seated; sit
व्याख्यास्यामिvyākhyāsyāmiI shall explain (vi-ā + √khyā, future); I shall expound; I shall explain
तेtethose; these
व्याचक्षाणस्यvyācakṣāṇasyaof me expounding; of me setting forth
तुtusurely; but
मेmemyself; in my house
निदिध्यासस्वnididhyāsasvameditate deeply (ni-di-dhyāsasva, imperative); ponder deeply; contemplate
इतिitithus; how
Translation
Yājñavalkya said: "Dear you have been to us — and dear is what you say! Come, sit down: I will explain to you. And as I explain, contemplate deeply."
Version
1114e80fb9a6 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:54:37 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The joy of a teacher who has found a pupil: priyā batāre naḥ satī priyaṁ bhāṣase — "dear you have been to us, and dear is what you say": his wife's choice gladdened the sage more than all her other virtues; a question about immortality is the sweetest caress to a knower. "Come, sit down" — the ancient gesture that opens a handing-on (upa-ni-ṣad — "to sit down close by"!).
And an instruction on how to listen: vyācakṣāṇasya tu me nididhyāsasva — "as I explain, contemplate deeply". Nididhyāsana is the very word by which Vedānta will name the third stage of realisation (hearing — pondering — deep contemplation): what is heard must not be memorised but grafted in, thought through to the bottom, carried within. To hear the truth is a work for two: one gives all his knowledge, the other all her attention.