Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 11
॥
Devanāgarī
निहितं ब्रह्म यो वेद परमे व्योम्नि संज्ञिते । सोऽश्नुते सकलान्कामान्क्रमेणैव द्विजोत्तमः
Transliteration (IAST)
nihitaṃ brahma yo veda parame vyomni saṃjñite | so'śnute sakalānkāmānkrameṇaiva dvijottamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
निहितं ब्रह्म यः वेदnihitaṃ brahma yaḥ vedahidden Brahman, who knows
परमे व्योम्नि संज्ञितेparame vyomni saṃjñitein what is called the highest heaven
सः अश्नुते सकलान् कामान्saḥ aśnute sakalān kāmānhe tastes all desires
क्रमेण एव द्विज-उत्तमःkrameṇa eva dvija-uttamaḥgradually, the best of the twice-born
Translation
Who knows Brahman, hidden in what is called the highest heaven — he, the best of the twice-born, tastes all desires, and moreover gradually.
Version
bb95447f3374 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The verse repeats the famous passage of the Taittirīya: "hidden in the secret place, in the highest heaven" — yo veda nihitaṃ guhāyāṃ parame vyoman (2.1.1); and the promise there is the same: so'śnute sarvān kāmān, "he tastes all desires." This promise recurs constantly in the upaniṣads and was discussed when reading the Tripurā-tāpanī (22). Here, however, a word absent in the original is added: krameṇa eva, "and moreover gradually."
This addition corrects the promise and makes it more plausible. Not "he will get everything at once," but — he will get it in order, step by step; and anyone who has had something long-awaited come true knows that is how it happens: nothing comes true all at once. It is worth noting also the phrase sakalān kāmān, "all desires." In the Vaiṣṇava reading, this passage is understood not as a promise to fulfill everything a person wants, but as an indication that in Him all desires find their object: not "you will get everything you wanted," but "you will understand what you actually wanted."
The difference between these two readings is clear from a simple example. One can give a hungry man everything he dreamed of while hungry — and he will still want more; or one can feed him — and the dreams will stop by themselves. The second is what is promised.