Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4,3.13
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वप्नान्तः उच्चावचम् ईयमानो रूपाणि देवः कुरुते बहूनि उतेव स्त्रीभिः सह मोदमानो जक्षद् उतेवापि भयानि पश्यन्
Transliteration (IAST)
svapnāntaḥ uccāvacam īyamāno rūpāṇi devaḥ kurute bahūni uteva strībhiḥ saha modamāno jakṣad utevāpi bhayāni paśyan
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्वप्नान्तःsvapnāntaḥwithin the bounds of dream (svapna-anta, loc.); in the region of dream; within the bounds of dream
उच्चावचम्uccāvacamup and down (ucca-avaca); to the high and the low; up and down
ईयमानोīyamānoroving (from √i, passive participle); moving; roving
रूपाणिrūpāṇiof the form; the forms
देवःdevaḥthe god (deva); radiant; god
कुरुतेkurutemakes; he performs
बहूनिbahūnimany; numerous
उतेवutevaand as it were; now as though
स्त्रीभिःstrībhiḥwith wives; with women
सहsahatogether with; conjointly
मोदमानोmodamānorejoicing (from √mud, participle); taking delight; delighting
जक्षद्jakṣadlaughing and feasting (from √jakṣ); banqueting; laughing
उतेवापिutevāpiand likewise as it were; or else as though
भयानिbhayāniterrors (bhaya, pl.); fears; terrors
पश्यन्paśyanseeing; seeing
Translation
Within the dream, moving up and down, the god makes himself many forms: now as it were laughing and delighting with women, now as it were seeing terrors.
Version
a77fdf022c4b · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:12:39 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third verse is honest about the content of dreams: "the god" (devaḥ — so the dreamer is simply called!) makes himself forms "up and down": now feasts and companions, now horrors. Dream freedom is unfiltered: the maker of dreams moulds both paradise and nightmare out of one and the same bright substance.
The double iva — "as it were" — keeps a saving distance: both the delights and the terrors are only "as it were"; he plays in them without becoming them. A nightmare too is his own work, and therefore it has no essential power over the dreamer. This prepares the great conclusion (4.3.16): "nothing that he sees there follows him, for he is unattached" — asaṅga, the Shining One's freedom from his own pictures.