Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 2.17
॥
Devanāgarī
इत्यात्मानमादाय मनसा ब्रह्मणैकीकुर्यात्
Transliteration (IAST)
ityātmānamādāya manasā brahmaṇaikīkuryāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इति आत्मानम् आदाय मनसाiti ātmānam ādāya manasāso, taking the Ātman with the mind; thus, receiving the ātman by thought
ब्रह्मणा एकीकुर्यात्brahmaṇā ekīkuryātlet him make it one with Brahman; let him make it single with Brahman
Translation
So, taking the Ātman with the mind, let him make it one with Brahman.
Version
9cfbdfe41fe4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
One sentence, and in it a practice is prescribed.
Ātmānam ādāya manasā — “taking the Ātman with the mind”. The verb ā-dā means “to take, to receive, to grasp”. That is, one must first gather oneself: understand who one is, setting oneself apart from the body and from the states of which the Māṇḍūkya spoke.
Then — ekīkuryāt, “let him make one”, literally “let him make single”.
The word is again double, like everything in this chapter. One can join what was apart; one can also make one what was never parted — simply by seeing it.
But note the construction: one joins the Ātman with Brahman, that is, oneself — with Him. So the act belongs to the joiner, and it is done with the mind.
In this is the whole measure of the teaching here. It does not say there is no difference and nothing to understand; it commands doing.
The previous paragraph gave the word — so'ham; this one commands not merely to utter it but to set the mind in order by it.
The next, last paragraph of the chapter will say what happens to those who do this — and say it with all the weight there is.