Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 34
॥
Devanāgarī
तद्ब्रह्मानन्दमद्वन्द्वं निर्गुणं सत्यचिद्घनम् । विदित्वा स्वात्मरूपेण न बिभेति कुतश्चन
Transliteration (IAST)
tadbrahmānandamadvandvaṃ nirguṇaṃ satyacidghanam | viditvā svātmarūpeṇa na bibheti kutaścana
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् ब्रह्म-आनन्दम् अ-द्वन्द्वंtat brahma-ānandam a-dvandvaṃthat bliss of Brahman, unpaired
निर्गुणं सत्य-चित्-घनम्nirguṇaṃ satya-cit-ghanamqualityless, a mass of truth and consciousness
विदित्वा स्व-आत्म-रूपेणviditvā sva-ātma-rūpeṇahaving known [it] as the form of one's own self
न बिभेति कुतश्चनna bibheti kutaścanaone fears nothing, from nowhere
Translation
That bliss of Brahman, unpaired, qualityless, a mass of truth and consciousness, having known it as the form of one's own self, one fears nothing, from nowhere.
Version
6f82826dd632 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The verse ends with the Taittirīya's words: na bibheti kutaścana, "one fears nothing, from nowhere" — and this, as noted when reading the twenty-seventh line, is the truest description of the limit found in these books. It is worth pausing on the word nirguṇa, "qualityless," for it stands here and is disputed more than any other. Guṇa means both "quality" and "strand, thread," and, in the most common sense, the three guṇas: sattva, rajas, tamas — the three states of nature. And in this last sense, nirguṇa means "not subject to the three guṇas," that is, not made of the substance of nature.
This reading is not invented for the sake of defense: it is central in the Gītā itself, where it is said: "the three guṇas, born of nature, bind the imperishable embodied one within the body" (14.5), and where guṇātīta, "one who has transcended the guṇas," is described as a person who nevertheless retains qualities, conduct, and relations with people (14.22–25). Here lies the whole difference in a single word. If nirguṇa means "having no properties at all," then He can neither know nor want nor be a witness — yet this very book calls Him both knowing and a witness. But if it means "not made of the substance of nature," there is no contradiction at all: His properties are not ours, not composite, not passing — and that is exactly why they are not guṇas.
A separate word is worth saying about the word advandva, "unpaired." Dvandva is "a pair of opposites" — heat and cold, honor and dishonor; and advandva means "standing outside these pairs." Note: not "having no second," but "not wavering between two extremes"; and this word is applied more often to a person than to God.