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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.64
॥
Devanāgarī
दर्शनादर्शने हित्वा स्वयं केवलरूपतः । य आस्ते कपिशार्दूल ब्रह्म स ब्रह्मवित्स्वयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
darśanādarśane hitvā svayaṃ kevalarūpataḥ | ya āste kapiśārdūla brahma sa brahmavitsvayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दर्शन-अ-दर्शने हित्वाdarśana-a-darśane hitvāseeing and not-seeing, having abandoned
स्वयं केवल-रूपतःsvayaṃ kevala-rūpataḥby oneself, in one's own form alone
यः आस्ते कपि-शार्दूलyaḥ āste kapi-śārdūlawho abides, o tiger among monkeys
ब्रह्म सः ब्रह्म-वित् स्वयम्brahma saḥ brahma-vit svayamhe is brahman, he himself the knower of brahman
Translation
«Whoever, having abandoned both seeing and not-seeing, abides by himself, in his own form alone — he is brahman, and he himself is the knower of brahman, o tiger among monkeys».
Version
2ad2d32466b0 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Worth noting that one is told to abandon both alike: darśana-adarśane, «seeing and not-seeing». This construction is the usual one in non-dual writing and means that both sides of a distinction are rejected: not only «I see», but also «I do not see». Add what the Vaishnava side answers to such turns of phrase, spoken of at Varāha (4.19).
A negation does not point: having said «neither this nor that», one has not said what there is; and any number of negations does not replace a single pointing. Add the second half-verse, which is more curious than the first: brahma sa brahma-vit svayam, «he is brahman and he is the knower of brahman». That is, in one line he is named at once both the object and the knower of the object.
The book does not reduce them to one: it sets both words side by side, both in the nominative. The Vaishnava side points to this and draws its usual conclusion: if he is both, then the distinction between the knower and the known is not abolished, but kept; otherwise the second word would be superfluous. Add the address kapi-śārdūla, «tiger among monkeys».
This turn in Sanskrit is an ordinary honorific praise, like «bull among the silent», examined at Sarasvatī-rahasya (1.2); and worth noting that in the most abstract place of the book Rāma calls Hanumān by a homely name.