Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.28
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मविदाप्नोति परम् । ब्रह्मा शिवो मे अस्तु सदाशिवोम्
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmavidāpnoti param | brahmā śivo me astu sadāśivom
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्म-वित् आप्नोति परम्brahma-vit āpnoti paramone who knows Brahman attains the highest
ब्रह्मा शिवः मे अस्तुbrahmā śivaḥ me astumay Brahmā and Śiva be [kind] to me
सदा-शिवः ओम्sadā-śivaḥ omSadāśiva, om
Translation
«One who knows Brahman attains the highest. May Brahmā, Śiva, be [kind] to me; Sadāśiva, om».
Version
46453521d585 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The opening saying of the Taittirīya (2.1.1) is cited: brahma-vid āpnoti param, «one who knows Brahman attains the highest». This passage is one of the chief ones in Vedānta, and the second book of the Taittirīya opens with it — the one containing both «truth, knowledge, infinity is Brahman» and the ladder of blessings. Worth noting the verb: āpnoti, «attains».
Not «becomes», not «dissolves», but — attains; and this verb, as noted when reading Devī (3), presupposes one who was going and that to which he arrived. The second half of the line is a wish: śivo me astu, «may [he] be kind to me». The word śiva stands here in its plain sense — «kind, gracious»; and this turn is an ordinary Vedic petition: may [he] be kind.
Worth noting that this petition is placed right after the assertion of attaining the highest. That is, the one who has attained the highest at once asks for benevolence. This combination, to my mind, is among the most human in the book. Knowledge does not annul petition; and the one who has just said «the knower attains» says, in the very next word, «may [he] be kind to me» — that is, he addresses, rather than concludes.