Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4,4.12
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मानं चेद् विजानीयात् अयम् अस्मि इति पुरुषः किम् इच्छन् कस्य कामाय शरीरम् अनु संज्वरेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmānaṃ ced vijānīyāt ayam asmi iti puruṣaḥ kim icchan kasya kāmāya śarīram anu saṃjvaret
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्मानंātmānaṃthe self; His very self
चेद्cedif; if
विजानीयात्vijānīyāthe were to know (vi + √jñā, optative); he would discern; he has recognised
अयम्ayamthis; he
अस्मिasmiI am; I am
इतिitithus; how
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥthe puruṣa; the person; the indweller
किम्kimwhat; in what manner
इच्छन्icchandesiring (from √iṣ, participle); wishing; desiring
कस्यkasyaof what (kim, gen.); in whose; whom
कामायkāmāyaout of desire for (kāma, dat.); for the sake of desire; having desired
शरीरम्śarīrambody; the bodily frame
अनुanuafter (anu); in succession; in succession
संज्वरेत्saṃjvaretshould burn with fever (sam + √jvar, optative); would be consumed with fever; will be feverish
Translation
If a man has known the ātman — "I am he" — then desiring what, for the sake of whom, would he make his body burn with fever?
Version
6d0ce0465108 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:17:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A verse that is a question, and in it the whole ethic of knowledge is folded: one who has known "I am he" (ayam asmīti) — desiring what more would he "make the body burn with fever" (anu saṁjvaret — scorch it with the fever of wants and worries)? Every fever of life comes from a lack; what does the one who has known the Full One lack?
The word saṁjvaret is a sniper's choice: desires are a heat that shakes the body; ambition, lust, fear are so many kinds of fever. Health, in the Upaniṣad's sense, is not the absence of illness but the absence of inner fever; and there is one febrifuge: the recognised kinship with Him beside whom there is nothing and no one to importune.