Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 36
॥
Devanāgarī
गुरुस्तस्मै परां विद्यां दद्याद्ब्रह्मात्मबोधिनीम् । गुहायां निहितं साक्षादक्षरं वेद चेन्नरः
Transliteration (IAST)
gurustasmai parāṃ vidyāṃ dadyādbrahmātmabodhinīm | guhāyāṃ nihitaṃ sākṣādakṣaraṃ veda cennaraḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गुरुः तस्मै परां विद्यांguruḥ tasmai parāṃ vidyāṃlet the teacher give him the supreme science
दद्यात् ब्रह्म-आत्म-बोधिनीम्dadyāt brahma-ātma-bodhinīmexplaining brahman and the self
गुहायां निहितं साक्षात्guhāyāṃ nihitaṃ sākṣāthidden in the cave, directly
अ-क्षरं वेद चेत् नरःa-kṣaraṃ veda cet naraḥif a person knows the Imperishable
Translation
"Let the teacher give him the supreme science, explaining brahman and the self. If a person directly knows the Imperishable, hidden in the cave …"
Version
63fbb68dfd41 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verb standing here is one not expected of "knowledge": dadyāt, "let him give." Knowledge, accordingly, is not acquired and not deduced, but given; and it is given by a person. This was discussed when reading the Kāṭharudra (35), where the condition was named by the same phrase — "by the instruction of one's own teacher."
It is worth noting also the word sākṣāt, "directly," literally "before the eyes." It stands beside the knowledge of the Imperishable and denotes not an inference or a guess, but direct discernment. The phrase guhāyāṃ nihitam, "hidden in the cave," is found in the Taittirīya (2.1) and was discussed when reading the Kāṭharudra (11). Guhā is a hiding place, and ordinarily the heart; and what is hidden there is called hidden not because it is concealed, but because it is deep.
The Vaiṣṇava side adds one thing to this verse, relevant to the matter. If knowledge is given, it has an owner, and it is another's until given. Hence everything said in this tradition about the inadmissibility of taking a teaching without leave — not out of pride, but because what is taken without being given is not what is received.
Let us add that the object of the science is also named as twofold: brahma-ātma-bodhinī, "explaining brahman and the self." Not one or the other, but both; and in the very name of the science stand two subjects, not one.