Upanishads · Mahā 4.24
॥
Devanāgarī
गुरुशास्त्रोक्तमार्गेण स्वानुभूत्या च चिद्घने ब्रह्मैवाहमिति ज्ञात्वा वीतशोको भवेन्मुनिः
Transliteration (IAST)
guruśāstroktamārgeṇa svānubhūtyā ca cidghane brahmaivāhamiti jñātvā vītaśoko bhavenmuniḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गुरु-शास्त्र-उक्त-मार्गेणguru-śāstra-ukta-mārgeṇaby the path told by teacher and scripture; by the way declared by the preceptor and the writing
स्व-अनुभूत्या च चित्-घनेsva-anubhūtyā ca cit-ghaneand by one's own experience — in the density of consciousness; and by personal realisation — in the mass of awareness
ब्रह्म एव अहम् इति ज्ञात्वाbrahma eva aham iti jñātvāhaving known “I am indeed Brahman”; having understood “it is Brahman that I am”
वीत-शोकः भवेत् मुनिःvīta-śokaḥ bhavet muniḥlet the sage become free of sorrow; let the silent one be made free from grief
Translation
“By the path told by teacher and scripture, and by one's own experience — in the dense consciousness — having known ‘I am Brahman’, let the sage become free of sorrow.”
Version
be1123720c91 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here again are named the three witnesses of 4.5: teacher, scripture, one's own experience. The order is the same and on the same ground.
Cid-ghana — “dense consciousness”, literally “compact, solid”. A good word: it indicates that there are no interlayers of matter and distinctions there, as an ingot has no hollows.
The formula “I am Brahman” was already examined at 2.11, and all said there remains in force: it is true as a denial of identification with body and mind, and untrue as a proclamation of oneself as the Supreme.
Here this reading has direct support too. The fruit of the knowing is named vīta-śoka — “free of sorrow”, not “become God”.
This echoes the Chāndogya, where Nārada comes to Sanatkumāra with the words: “I sorrow; carry me across sorrow”. The fruit of knowledge everywhere in the Upaniṣads is one and the same — the end of sorrow.