Upanishads · Mahā 4.69
॥
Devanāgarī
तद्ब्रह्मानन्दमद्वन्द्वं निर्गुणं सत्यचिद्घनम् विदित्वा स्वात्मनो रूपं न बिभेति कदाचन
Transliteration (IAST)
tadbrahmānandamadvandvaṃ nirguṇaṃ satyacidghanam viditvā svātmano rūpaṃ na bibheti kadācana
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् ब्रह्म-आनन्दम् अद्वन्द्वम्tat brahma-ānandam advandvamthat blissful Brahman, beyond duality; that bliss-Brahman, foreign to pairing
निर्गुणम् सत्य-चित्-घनम्nirguṇam satya-cit-ghanamwithout qualities, solid being and consciousness; devoid of properties, condensed truth and awareness
विदित्वा स्व-आत्मनः रूपम्viditvā sva-ātmanaḥ rūpamhaving known as the form of one's own Ātman; having understood as the shape of one's own self
न बिभेति कदाचनna bibheti kadācanaone never fears; one is never afraid
Translation
“Having known that blissful Brahman — beyond duality, without qualities, solid being and consciousness — as the form of one's own Ātman, a man never fears.”
Version
a1c8e284833f · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fruit of knowledge is named here in one word: fearlessness.
This is constant in the Upaniṣads. In the Taittirīya it is said: where there is an other — there is fear; he who sees difference has something to fear.
The logic is this. Fear is a relation to the other: one fears what can take away, wound, destroy. If there is no other, there is nothing to fear.
The word advandva — “beyond duality”, literally “without pairs”: without the pairs like heat and cold, honour and dishonour.
Nirguṇa — “without qualities”: not “devoid of merits”, but not composed of the three strands of matter of which the world is woven.
Note also the proviso needed in reading: “as the form of one's own Ātman” does not mean “I am the Supreme”. It speaks of nature, not of dominion; see 2.11 and 4.24.