Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4,4.11
॥
Devanāgarī
अनन्दाः नाम ते लोकाः अन्धेन तमसा आवृताः तांस् ते प्रेत्य अभिगच्छति अविद्वांसः अबुधाः जनाः
Transliteration (IAST)
anandāḥ nāma te lokāḥ andhena tamasā āvṛtāḥ tāṃs te pretya abhigacchati avidvāṃsaḥ abudhāḥ janāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अनन्दाःanandāḥjoyless (an-anda); devoid of bliss; joyless
नामnāmaby name; the name
तेtethose; these
लोकाःlokāḥworlds; the regions
अन्धेनandhenablind; dense
तमसाtamasāby darkness; by gloom
आवृताःāvṛtāḥcovered (āvṛta, pl.); enveloped; covered
तांस्tāṃsof them; those worlds
तेtethose; these
प्रेत्यpretyaafter death (pretya); having died; after death
अभिगच्छतिabhigacchatithey go (abhi + √gam); they set out; go
अविद्वांसःavidvāṃsaḥthe ignorant (a-vidvas, pl.); those who do not know; the ignorant
अबुधाःabudhāḥthe unawakened (a-budha, pl.); the unroused; the unawakened
जनाःjanāḥpeople; beings
Translation
Joyless are those worlds called, covered with blind darkness: into them after death go people who do not know, who are unawakened.
Version
91d3ac7fec52 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:15:25 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The warning continues (it is also Īśā 3): anandā nāma te lokāḥ — "joyless worlds", covered with blind darkness, are the lot after death of "those who do not know, the unawakened" (abudhāḥ). The dreadful word is exactly chosen: not "tormenting" but joyless: the darkness does not torture, it takes away the taste; the hell of the Upaniṣads is above all an anaesthesia of joy.
For joy, as has been said (4.3.32), is a portion of the one Bliss: whoever has not awakened to It here has nothing to rejoice with there. Unawakenedness is not the innocence of sleep but the truanting of the one lesson; and the verse sounds not as a sentence but as an alarm clock: wake up while you are still called by name.