Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 105
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वरेण सल्लयेद्योगी स्वरं संभावयेत्परम् । अस्वरेण तु भावेन न भावो भाव इष्यते ॥ 7॥ तदेव निष्कलं ब्रह्म निर्विकल्पं निरञ्जनम् । तद्ब्रह्माहमिति ज्ञात्वा ब्रह्म संपद्यते क्रमात् ॥ 8
Transliteration (IAST)
svareṇa sallayedyogī svaraṃ saṃbhāvayetparam | asvareṇa tu bhāvena na bhāvo bhāva iṣyate || 7|| tadeva niṣkalaṃ brahma nirvikalpaṃ nirañjanam | tadbrahmāhamiti jñātvā brahma saṃpadyate kramāt || 8
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्वरेण सल्लयेत् योगीsvareṇa sallayet yogīlet the yogī dissolve in the sound
स्वरं संभावयेत् परम्svaraṃ saṃbhāvayet paramlet him raise the sound to the highest
तत् एव निष्कलं ब्रह्मtat eva niṣkalaṃ brahmathat indeed is the partless Brahman
निर्विकल्पं निरञ्जनम्nirvikalpaṃ nirañjanamindifferent, unstained
तत् ब्रह्म अहम् इति ज्ञात्वाtat brahma aham iti jñātvā«that Brahman is I», having known
Translation
«Let the yogī dissolve in the sound, let him raise the sound to the highest; but by a soundless state — not-a-state is recognized as a state. That indeed is the partless Brahman, indifferent, unstained; having known «that Brahman is I», gradually attains Brahman».
Version
a516dd19e9b1 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The formula tad brahmāham, «that Brahman is I», is cited, and from this point to the end of the book, verses of an advaitic character will follow. They must be examined one by one and without haste, for these are the best arguments of the opposing side, and the book cites them in sequence. The first thing worth noting is the word kramāt, «gradually». It is said: having known «Brahman is I», one attains Brahman gradually.
This qualification, in a verse of this sort, is remarkable. If identity already exists, there is nothing to attain, and there can be no gradualness: what is identical does not approach itself piece by piece. But if attainment is gradual, then a distance remains between the knower and the attained — the very distance this teaching says does not exist.
This contradiction is not a trifle and has been examined many times in disputes. The answer usually given is that it is ignorance that departs gradually, not distance. But even then it departs from someone, and this someone is not the same in state at the beginning and at the end of the path; and if the states change, there is one to whom they belong.
The Vaishnava reading, for this reason, holds that the formula «Brahman is I» denotes not equality but nature: I am of the same nature as He — conscious, not a thing. In this sense it is true and disputed by no one; the dispute is over what follows from it.