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Upanishads · Sarasvatīrahasya 4.11
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मविद्या मया लब्ध्वा ब्रह्मणैव सनातनी । ब्रह्मत्वं मे सदा नित्यं सच्चिदानन्दरूपतः
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmavidyā mayā labdhvā brahmaṇaiva sanātanī | brahmatvaṃ me sadā nityaṃ saccidānandarūpataḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्म-विद्या मया लब्ध्वाātma-vidyā mayā labdhvāknowledge of the self, obtained by me
ब्रह्मणा एव सनातनीbrahmaṇā eva sanātanīfrom brahman itself, eternal
ब्रह्मत्वं मे सदा नित्यंbrahmatvaṃ me sadā nityaṃmy being-brahman is always, ever
सत्-चित्-आनन्द-रूपतःsat-cit-ānanda-rūpataḥby nature of being, consciousness, and bliss
Translation
Knowledge of the self, eternal, has been obtained by me from brahman itself; my being-brahman is always, ever, by nature of being, consciousness, and bliss.
Version
9556ebfd9c87 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Sarasvatī begins to speak, and the first thing she says is an acknowledgment of receipt: brahmaṇā eva, "from brahman itself." It is worth noting this, for it agrees with what we drew when reading the second part (2.2), where she was called brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ, "the power of brahman." That is, she speaks as one who has received, not as the primary source; and everything she says further must be read in this light.
This detail, to my mind, matters and is usually overlooked: the book's last verse, which says both the living being and the Lord are fabrications, is spoken not by the highest principle, but by a power that received knowledge from another. Let us add the word sanātanī, "eternal," standing beside knowledge. That is, knowledge is neither begun nor ended; and that it was lost and returned was discussed when reading the Hayagrīva (1.2).
Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side says about such a position. If knowledge is received, there is a giver; and every chain, followed to its end, does not terminate in a principle but in a person. And the Gītā says the same of itself: imaṃ vivasvate yogaṃ proktavān aham avyayam, "this imperishable yoga I told to Vivasvān" (4.1) — that is, there too the exposition begins with from whom.