Upanishads · Mahā 2.31
॥
Devanāgarī
यथावदखिलं प्रोक्तं जनकेन महात्मना तदेव तत्पुरा प्रोक्तं तस्य पित्रा महाधिया
Transliteration (IAST)
yathāvadakhilaṃ proktaṃ janakena mahātmanā tadeva tatpurā proktaṃ tasya pitrā mahādhiyā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथावत् अखिलम् प्रोक्तम्yathāvat akhilam proktamall was told as it is; declared wholly and rightly
जनकेन महात्मनाjanakena mahātmanāby the great-souled Janaka; by Janaka, lofty of soul
तत् एव तत् पुरा प्रोक्तम्tat eva tat purā proktamthat very thing was told before; just that had been said earlier
तस्य पित्रा महा-धियाtasya pitrā mahā-dhiyāby his father of great understanding; by his parent, great in wisdom
Translation
Janaka, lofty of soul, expounded everything as it is — and it was the very thing his father of great understanding had told him before.
Version
caa6561e02e3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is the resolution, and it is phrased so that one cannot pass it by: tad eva — “the very same”.
Not a word new. No correction, no refinement, no secret addition reserved for the worthy.
The whole tale is built for this verse. Three weeks at the gate, the road down from Meru, the trial by beauties — and in the end Śuka hears exactly what he heard at home.
So the matter was not in the content. Then the question stands: in what?
The book will answer in the next verses through Śuka's own lips. For now let me note a simple thing that usually escapes: truth does not become effective because it is correct. It becomes effective when a man has consented to receive it — and that consent is not a thought but a deed.
Śuka performed the deed: he came down from the mountain and stood three weeks at another's gate. After that the same words fell otherwise.