Upanishads · Tārasāra 3.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ हैनं भारद्वाजो याज्ञवल्क्यमुवाचाथ कैर्मन्त्रैः परमात्मा प्रीतो भवति स्वात्मानं दर्शयति तन्नो ब्रूहि भगव इति । स होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः
Transliteration (IAST)
atha hainaṃ bhāradvājo yājñavalkyamuvācātha kairmantraiḥ paramātmā prīto bhavati svātmānaṃ darśayati tanno brūhi bhagava iti | sa hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ ह एनं भारद्वाजःatha ha enaṃ bhāradvājaḥand now Bhāradvāja
याज्ञवल्क्यम् उवाच अथ कैः मन्त्रैःyājñavalkyam uvāca atha kaiḥ mantraiḥsaid to Yājñavalkya: by what mantras
परम-आत्मा प्रीतः भवतिparama-ātmā prītaḥ bhavatidoes the highest self become pleased
स्व-आत्मानं दर्शयतिsva-ātmānaṃ darśayatiand show himself
तत् नः ब्रूहि भगवः इतिtat naḥ brūhi bhagavaḥ ititell us this, lord
Translation
«And now Bhāradvāja said to Yājñavalkya: by what mantras does the highest self become pleased and show himself? — tell us this, lord. And Yājñavalkya said…»
Version
b2b35641e461 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The question of the third pāda is put in a way that deserves examining word by word. Prīto bhavati, "becomes pleased": the verb prī, discussed when reading the Gaṇapati (2.2), requires two and is never reflexive. Svātmānaṃ darśayati, "shows himself": a causative of dṛś, "to see"; literally "makes it so that he is seen."
That is, the question asked is not "how to attain" and not "how to know," but — by what can He be pleased, so that He will show himself. Such a framing is rare in the upaniṣads and deserves attention. Usually the means of knowledge are asked about; here, what pleases Him.
The Vaiṣṇava side stands on exactly this framing, and distinguishes two ways of seeking: jñāna, where the seeker acts, and bhakti, where the One sought acts. It clarifies the difference with two verses worth citing together. The first — Kaṭha 1.2.23, cited more than once: "whom He chooses, by him He is attained; to him He reveals His form."
The second — Gītā 18.55: "by devotion he knows Me as I truly am; having known Me in truth, he at once enters Me." It is worth noting the order in the second: first devotion, then knowledge, then entry. Not "know, in order to love," but "love, in order to know" — and this reverses the usual course.
The explanation given for this is simple and drawn from ordinary life. Of a person indifferent to you, you learn only the outward; and no diligence helps here, for he himself will not open up to one who is unmoved toward him.