Upanishads · Varāha 2.13
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वसाक्षिणमात्मानं वर्णाश्रमविवर्जितम् । ब्रह्मरूपतया पश्यन्ब्रह्मैव भवति स्वयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvasākṣiṇamātmānaṃ varṇāśramavivarjitam | brahmarūpatayā paśyanbrahmaiva bhavati svayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-साक्षिणम् आत्मानंsarva-sākṣiṇam ātmānaṃthe self, witness of all
वर्ण-आश्रम-विवर्जितम्varṇa-āśrama-vivarjitamfree of castes and stations
ब्रह्म-रूपतया पश्यन्brahma-rūpatayā paśyanseeing as having the form of brahman
ब्रह्म एव भवति स्वयम्brahma eva bhavati svayamone himself becomes brahman
Translation
"Seeing the self, witness of all, free of castes and stations, as having the form of brahman, — one himself becomes brahman."
Version
6108fbeeb7e7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the definition sarva-sakshin, "witness of all," and repeating what was discussed when reading the Panchabrahma (36). A witness of all presupposes that these "all" are many; there is no such thing as a witness of one's own witnessing. Let us add a second definition here: varna-ashrama-vivarjita, "free of castes and stations."
It repeats what was said in the sixth verse and deserves noting as running through this chapter: the book returns three times to the fact that what is sought is beyond category. This repetition is no accident and is, in my view, directed against the book itself: in the second verse, caste duty was named a preparation, and now it is being insistently pushed aside. As for the phrase brahmaiva bhavati svayam, "one himself becomes brahman," of such phrasings it was discussed when reading the Tarasara (1.11), and there is no need to repeat the examination: a property is obtained, not identity, and neighboring lines of the same book confirm this.
Let us add here one observation useful when reading the whole second chapter. In it, two languages alternate: the language of relation (2.1 "breaker of the devotees' anguish," 2.4 "form in me the notion of 'I'," 2.8 "that one am I, Vishnu") and the language of identity (2.11 "there is neither world nor Lord," 2.13 "one himself becomes brahman"). This alternation is a trait of the later Upanishads, which gathered ready-made verses from various sources; and it is left to the reader not to choose between them at random, but to hold to what the book discusses at length, rather than in passing.