Upanishads · Kaṭharudra p2
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ पुत्रो वदत्यहं ब्रह्माहं यज्ञोऽहं वषट्कारोऽहमोङ्कारोऽहं स्वाहाहं स्वधाहं धाताहं विधाताहं त्वष्टाहं प्रतिष्ठास्मीति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha putro vadatyahaṃ brahmāhaṃ yajño'haṃ vaṣaṭkāro'hamoṅkāro'haṃ svāhāhaṃ svadhāhaṃ dhātāhaṃ vidhātāhaṃ tvaṣṭāhaṃ pratiṣṭhāsmīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ पुत्रः वदतिatha putraḥ vadatithen the son says
अहं ब्रह्मा अहं यज्ञःahaṃ brahmā ahaṃ yajñaḥ"I am Brahmā, I am the sacrifice"
अहं ओङ्कारःahaṃ oṅkāraḥ"I am 'oṃ'"
अहं धाता अहं विधाताahaṃ dhātā ahaṃ vidhātā"I am Dhātar, I am Vidhātar"
अहं त्वष्टा प्रतिष्ठा अस्मिahaṃ tvaṣṭā pratiṣṭhā asmi"I am Tvaṣṭar, I am the support"
Translation
Then the son says: "I am Brahmā, I am the sacrifice, I am the exclamation 'vaṣaṭ,' I am 'oṃ,' I am 'svāhā,' I am 'svadhā,' I am Dhātar, I am Vidhātar, I am Tvaṣṭar, I am the support."
Version
6ef4dcd97278 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The son answers with the same words, only in the first person. The father said "you are Brahmā"; the son says "I am Brahmā." This repetition is a device of transmission, older than any theology. So even now an office is assumed, an oath is taken, a vow made: one side names, the other confirms aloud, with his own mouth. What is said to oneself does not count — it must be uttered.
It is worth noting that this whole scene is exactly what cannot occur in a teaching of unity. The father transmits to the son; the son accepts and says that he now bears it. If the father and the son were one, there would be nothing to transmit and no one to transmit it to.
It is worth pausing on "I am Brahmā" itself. Here it means not a theological identity, but an entry into office: I am now the one who performs the sacrifice, who tends the fire, who is the support of the household. The word "Brahmā" stands in a row with "vaṣaṭ" and "svāhā" — with ritual exclamations; and the whole row speaks of one thing: the duties have passed on.
Reading this, it is worth remembering it every time "I am Brahman" is encountered in abstract passages. There it may mean something else; but here, in the ancient rite from which the formula probably arose, it means: I have taken up the task.