Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 41
॥
Devanāgarī
यो जानीते स सुभगो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
yo jānīte sa subhago bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यः जानीतेyaḥ jānītewho knows
सः सु-भगः भवतिsaḥ su-bhagaḥ bhavatibecomes good-portioned
Translation
«Who knows, becomes good-portioned».
Version
a311bec28ca6 · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
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The line is short, and in it a single word: subhaga, «good-portioned, fortunate in one's share». It is composed of su, «good», and bhaga, «portion, part, fortune»; the same bhaga stands in the word Bhagavān, «possessor of a portion», discussed when reading Akṣi (1.3). The promise here is more modest than usual: not «is liberated», not «becomes Brahman», but is fortunate — and this is an everyday word. Its root is the same as that of bhakti, as discussed when reading Parabrahma (5): bhaj means «to divide, to allot, to partake». Subhaga, then, is one to whom a good share has been allotted; and it is someone who allots it.
Everything needed is contained in this little word. Happiness is neither an achievement nor a property: it is a portion, a part set apart for you from a whole; and one who receives it says not «I achieved it», but «it fell to me». The opposite word, durbhaga, «unfortunate», is formed the same way — his portion is bad. The language, then, presupposes that everyone has a portion, and the only difference is which kind; and so the question «why is my portion this way» turns out to be a question addressed to someone, not to the structure of the world.