Upanishads · Mahā 6.27
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रबुद्धोऽस्मि प्रबुद्धोऽस्मि दुष्टश्चोरोऽयमात्मनः मनो नाम निहन्म्येनं मनसास्मि चिरं हृतः
Transliteration (IAST)
prabuddho'smi prabuddho'smi duṣṭaścoro'yamātmanaḥ mano nāma nihanmyenaṃ manasāsmi ciraṃ hṛtaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रबुद्धः अस्मि प्रबुद्धः अस्मिprabuddhaḥ asmi prabuddhaḥ asmiI am awake, I am awake; I have wakened, I have wakened
दुष्टः चोरः अयम् आत्मनःduṣṭaḥ coraḥ ayam ātmanaḥhere is the villain and thief of my own self; behold the miscreant and robber of myself
मनः नाम निहन्मि एनम्manaḥ nāma nihanmi enamnamed mind — I shall slay him; called consciousness — I will strike him down
मनसा अस्मि चिरम् हृतःmanasā asmi ciram hṛtaḥby the mind I have long been robbed; by consciousness I have long been plundered
Translation
“I am awake, I am awake! Here is the villain and thief of my own self — he whose name is mind; I shall slay him: by him I have long been robbed.”
Version
88418ad63f36 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An exclamation, and the only one of its kind in the whole book.
Prabuddho'smi prabuddho'smi — “I am awake, I am awake!” Twice.
This is spoken by a man who was just enumerating calamities — and suddenly woke in the middle of the list.
Note that the awakening is described neither as a vision of light nor as peace. It is described as the recognizing of a thief.
Manasā asmi ciraṃ hṛtaḥ — “by the mind I have long been robbed”.
The image of the thief was already in 5.71: the recognized thief becomes a friend.
Here the recognition has only just happened, and the first movement is anger: nihanmy enam, “I shall slay him”.
That is honest. The first feeling of the robbed is not mercy.