Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4,5.14
॥
Devanāgarī
सा ह उवाच मैत्रेयी अत्रैव मा भगवान् मोहान्तम् आपीपदत् न वा अहम् इमं विजानामि इति सः ह उवाच न वा अरे अहम् मोहं ब्रवीमि अविनाशी वा अरे अयम् आत्मा अनुच्छित्तिधर्मा
Transliteration (IAST)
sā ha uvāca maitreyī atraiva mā bhagavān mohāntam āpīpadat na vā aham imaṃ vijānāmi iti saḥ ha uvāca na vā are aham mohaṃ bravīmi avināśī vā are ayam ātmā anucchittidharmā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
साsāshe; that one
हhasurely; as is known
उवाचuvācahe said; he uttered
मैत्रेयीmaitreyīMaitreyī; the wise Maitreyī
अत्रैवatraivahere itself; right here
माmānot; no need
भगवान्bhagavānvenerable one; sir
मोहान्तम्mohāntaminto utter bewilderment (moha-anta — 'to the limit of confusion'); to the very edge of perplexity; into utter bewilderment
आपीपदत्āpīpadathe has thrown me (causative aorist of ā + √pad); he has cast; he has plunged
नnanot; no
वाvātruly; surely
अहम्ahamI; Himself
इमंimaṃthis; of this
विजानामिvijānāmiI understand (vi + √jñā; na vijānāmi); I comprehend; I understand
इतिitithus; how
सःsaḥhe; that one
हhasurely; as is known
उवाचuvācahe said; he uttered
नnanot; no
वाvātruly; surely
अरेareO dear one; O
अहम्ahamI; Himself
मोहंmohaṃdelusion; bewilderment
ब्रवीमिbravīmiI say; I declare
अविनाशीavināśīindestructible (a-vināśin); imperishable; indestructible
वाvātruly; surely
अरेareO dear one; O
अयम्ayamthis; he
आत्माātmāthe self; the ātman
अनुच्छित्तिधर्माanucchittidharmāof a nature that is not cut off (an-ucchitti-dharman); whose property is not to be severed; of an uninterrupted nature
Translation
Maitreyī said: "Here, my lord, you have thrown me into utter bewilderment: I do not understand this." He replied: "It is not bewilderment I am speaking, my dear: indestructible is this ātman, and its nature is unbreakable.
Version
480a4d506844 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:19:03 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Maitreyī's bewilderment is stronger in the second recension: mohāntam āpīpadat — "you have thrown me into utter bewilderment" — and more honest: na vā aham imaṁ vijānāmi — "I do not understand". The great pupil does not counterfeit understanding, and by that she compels the final answer.
And it is given here more plainly than in the second book: avināśī vā are 'yam ātmā — "indestructible is this ātman, and its nature is unbreakable" (anucchitti-dharmā)! What in 2.4.13 had to be inferred is here said outright: it is not the conscious one that disappears — the dual awareness disappears; the ātman itself is never destroyed and never cut off. The farewell version leaves the teacher's widow not a shadow of doubt: what she loved in her husband "for the sake of the ātman" will not die.