Upanishads · Pañcabrahma 26
॥
Devanāgarī
पञ्चब्रह्मात्मिकीं विद्यां योऽधीते भक्तिभावितः । स पञ्चात्मकतामेत्य भासते पञ्चधा स्वयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
pañcabrahmātmikīṃ vidyāṃ yo'dhīte bhaktibhāvitaḥ | sa pañcātmakatāmetya bhāsate pañcadhā svayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पञ्च-ब्रह्म-आत्मिकीं विद्यांpañca-brahma-ātmikīṃ vidyāṃthe knowledge consisting of the five brahmans
यः अधीते भक्ति-भावितःyaḥ adhīte bhakti-bhāvitaḥwhoever studies, pervaded by devotion
सः पञ्च-आत्मकताम् एत्यsaḥ pañca-ātmakatām etyahe, having attained fiveness
भासते पञ्चधा स्वयम्bhāsate pañcadhā svayamhimself shines fivefold
Translation
"Whoever studies the knowledge consisting of the five brahmans, pervaded by devotion — he, having attained fiveness, himself shines fivefold."
Version
8ecd89cfb7c6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting the word bhakti-bhāvitaḥ, "pervaded by devotion." The word bhakti, "devotion," occurs in this book for the first time — and it occurs precisely where the condition for the fruit is named. This detail recurs constantly in such books, and we have noted it more than once. The whole exposition can proceed abstractly; but wherever it comes to what is required of a person, devotion appears.
Bhāvita means "steeped, pervaded, cultivated," from bhū in the causative form; and its nuance is not "having devotion" but pervaded by it, as cloth by dye. This nuance is worth keeping, for it indicates a measure. One can have devotion to a small degree; to be pervaded by it means that it has gone all the way through.
The Vaiṣṇava side distinguishes this same thing and names the steps: śraddhā ("faith"), niṣṭhā ("steadfastness"), ruci ("taste"), āsakti ("attachment"), bhāva ("feeling"), prema ("love") — Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.4.15–16. Let us add what follows from this line for an assessment of the whole book. For fifteen verses the mapping proceeded by columns, and everything in it was arranged like a science: colors, elements, Vedas, fires. And when it came to the fruit, what was needed was not knowledge of the table but disposition.
This relation, to my mind, is the true conclusion to be drawn from all such compositions. The mapping can be learned; one cannot become pervaded by rote learning.