Upanishads · Mahā 4.80
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रज्ञानमेव तद्ब्रह्म सत्यप्रज्ञानलक्षणम् एवं ब्रह्मपरिज्ञानादेव मर्त्याऽमृतो भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
prajñānameva tadbrahma satyaprajñānalakṣaṇam evaṃ brahmaparijñānādeva martyā'mṛto bhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रज्ञानम् एव तत् ब्रह्मprajñānam eva tat brahmathat knowing itself is Brahman; precisely awareness — it is Brahman
सत्य-प्रज्ञान-लक्षणम्satya-prajñāna-lakṣaṇamwhose mark is true knowing; whose token is genuine awareness
एवम् ब्रह्म-परिज्ञानात्evam brahma-parijñānātthus, from the full knowledge of Brahman; so, from the complete comprehension of Brahman
एव मर्त्यः अमृतः भवेत्eva martyaḥ amṛtaḥ bhavetthe mortal shall become immortal; the mortal will be made deathless
Translation
“That knowing itself is Brahman, whose mark is true knowing; thus, from the full knowledge of Brahman, the mortal becomes immortal.”
Version
14984058882b · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The first line is one of the great sayings: prajñānaṃ brahma, “knowing is Brahman”. It stands in the Aitareya Upaniṣad and is counted the mahāvākya of the Ṛgveda.
Here it is given with a gloss: satya-prajñāna-lakṣaṇam — “whose mark is true knowing”.
The gloss is needed. Not every knowledge is Brahman: information, memory, reckoning are not it. The speech is of prajñāna — the very capacity of being aware, which is present in every act of knowing and depends on no object.
The second half is a promise: martyo'mṛto bhavet, “the mortal shall become immortal”.
This is a turn from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka and the Kaṭha, recurring in the Upaniṣads constantly.
Note that immortality is promised not as the prolongation of life, but as a change in what one takes oneself to be. Mortal is he who fancies himself the body; the knower knows that he is that which knows — and the knowing does not die.