Upanishads · Brahma 4.6
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मानमरणिं कृत्वा प्रणवं चोत्तरारणिम् । ध्याननिर्मथनाभ्यासाद्देवं पश्येन्निगूढवत्
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmānamaraṇiṃ kṛtvā praṇavaṃ cottarāraṇim | dhyānanirmathanābhyāsāddevaṃ paśyennigūḍhavat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्मानम् अरणिम् कृत्वाātmānam araṇim kṛtvāmaking the Ātman the lower fire-stick; turning the ātman into the lower araṇi
प्रणवम् च उत्तरारणिम्praṇavam ca uttarāraṇimand the praṇava the upper; and the syllable Om into the upper
ध्याननिर्मथनाभ्यासात्dhyānanirmathanābhyāsātby the practice of the churning of contemplation; by diligent kindling through dhyāna
देवम् पश्येत् निगूढवत्devam paśyet nigūḍhavatlet him see God, as it were hidden; let him behold the god, as though concealed
Translation
Making the Ātman the lower fire-stick and the praṇava the upper, by the practice of the churning of contemplation let him see God, as it were hidden.
Version
00cfdf165af7 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:09:07 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The same verse as the eleventh mantra of the Kaivalya, but with two changes, and both are telling.
There it was jñāna-nirmathana — “churning by knowledge”; here dhyāna-nirmathana, “churning by contemplation”.
And there the fruit was: “burns up sin”; here: devaṃ paśyen nigūḍhavat — “let him see God, as it were hidden”.
The first change sets remembrance in the place of knowledge; the second sets vision in the place of cleansing.
This is the direction of the whole fourth chapter. It moves not toward liberation as escape, but toward seeing.
The word nigūḍhavat — “as it were hidden” — deserves weighing. Not “hidden”, but “as it were”: He does not hide, yet without the churning He cannot be found, as without friction the fire in the wood cannot.
And recall that with this same image — the araṇi, the two sticks — the Śvetāśvatara explained why the Ātman is “found in oneself by truth and austerity”.
The next verse will give four similes in a row, all of the hidden within the evident.