Upanishads · Parabrahma 1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ हैनं महाशालः शौनकोऽङ्गिरसं भगवन्तं पिप्पलादं विधिवदुपसन्नः पप्रच्छ दिव्ये ब्रह्मपुरे के सम्प्रतिष्ठिता भवन्ति । कथं सृज्यन्ते । नित्यात्मन एष महिमा । विभज्य एष महिमा विभुः । क एषः
Transliteration (IAST)
atha hainaṃ mahāśālaḥ śaunako'ṅgirasaṃ bhagavantaṃ pippalādaṃ vidhivadupasannaḥ papraccha divye brahmapure ke sampratiṣṭhitā bhavanti | kathaṃ sṛjyante | nityātmana eṣa mahimā | vibhajya eṣa mahimā vibhuḥ | ka eṣaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ ह एनं महा-शालः शौनकःatha ha enaṃ mahā-śālaḥ śaunakaḥand now Śaunaka, the great householder
अङ्गिरसं भगवन्तं पिप्पलादंaṅgirasaṃ bhagavantaṃ pippalādaṃthe venerable Pippalāda, son of Aṅgiras
विधि-वत् उपसन्नः पप्रच्छvidhi-vat upasannaḥ papracchahaving approached as is proper, asked
दिव्ये ब्रह्म-पुरे के सम्प्रतिष्ठिताःdivye brahma-pure ke sampratiṣṭhitāḥwho are established in the wondrous city of brahman
कः एषःkaḥ eṣaḥwho is he
Translation
And now the great householder Śaunaka, having approached as is proper the venerable Pippalāda, son of Aṅgiras, asked: who are established in the wondrous city of brahman? how do they come to be? ... who is he?
Version
644e514b07f8 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The book opens the same way as the Praśna-upaniṣad: Śaunaka goes to Pippalāda. The book's circle, then, is Atharvan, and it places itself within a known tradition. It is worth noting the phrase vidhivat upasannaḥ, "having approached as is proper." Upasanna means "one who has sat down beside, drawn near"; and it is of the same root as upaniṣad, "a sitting-down-beside." That is, the questioner did not write a letter and did not send for the teacher: he came and sat beside him, and moreover "as is proper" — that is, with firewood in hand, as custom demands, and with readiness to serve.
It is also worth noting that the questioner is called mahā-śāla, "a great householder" — that is, a wealthy family man, not a renunciate. He did not leave home to ask; he came and sat down. Three questions are asked, and the last of them is the best: ka eṣaḥ, "who is he?" Not "what is this," but who; and the whole book is an answer to this question.
The Vaiṣṇava reading has full sympathy for such a framing, for it has discussed it more than once before (Pāśupata 1.2). The question "who" is the one question that cannot be answered impersonally; and the one who asked it has already received half his answer.