Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 2.9
॥
Devanāgarī
सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं च परानन्दं परं ध्रुवम् । प्रत्यगित्यवगन्तव्यं वेदान्तश्रवणं बुधाः
Transliteration (IAST)
satyaṃ jñānamanantaṃ ca parānandaṃ paraṃ dhruvam | pratyagityavagantavyaṃ vedāntaśravaṇaṃ budhāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सत्यं ज्ञानम् अनन्तं चsatyaṃ jñānam anantaṃ catruth, knowledge, and the infinite
पर-आनन्दं परं ध्रुवम्para-ānandaṃ paraṃ dhruvamhighest bliss, highest, unshakable
प्रत्यक् इति अवगन्तव्यंpratyak iti avagantavyaṃ'turned inward' — thus must one understand
वेदान्त-श्रवणं बुधाःvedānta-śravaṇaṃ budhāḥthe hearing of Vedanta, O wise ones
Translation
"'Truth, knowledge, the infinite, highest bliss, highest, unshakable, turned inward' — so must one understand; that, O wise ones, is the hearing of Vedanta."
Version
557e462e5121 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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A definition from the Taittiriya is given, and given almost verbatim: satyam jnanam anantam brahma, "truth, knowledge, the infinite — brahman" (2.1.1). This definition is central in Vedanta and is examined in every school; let us examine it too, for it holds an important movement of thought. The three words do not stand in a row as three qualities, but serve as exclusions: a lakshana, "a mark," not a vishesana, "a description." Each cuts away what is superfluous.
Satyam — "being," cuts away the changeable: what was and has ceased is not He. Jnanam — "knowledge," cuts away the unconscious: He is not a thing. Anantam — "the infinite," cuts away every boundary — of place, of time, of kind.
Here three more are added: parananda ("highest bliss"), param ("highest"), dhruvam ("unshakable"), and the last word — pratyak, "turned inward." It is on pratyak that we must pause, for it settles a great deal. The word means "turned back, directed inward"; it is opposed to parak, "directed outward."
The Katha Upanishad uses the same pair: "The Self-existent pierced the openings outward, hence one looks outward and not within oneself; a certain wise man, seeking immortality, turned his gaze back and saw the self" (2.1.1). The Vaishnava side accepts this definition entirely, but adds to it what matters to it, again through a verse of the Bhagavatam. The very same thing, it says, is called by three names: brahma (when regarded as infinite radiance), paramatma (when regarded as turned inward, in the heart), and bhagavan (when regarded as a Person) — brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti shabdyate (1.2.11).
Read this way, the definition here describes the second of the three degrees: it is built entirely on the word "inward." And the third degree does not cancel the second, but is not reducible to it either: the One who is within turns out to have also what is not within.