Upanishads · Varāha 2.27
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मविज्ञानसम्पन्नः प्रतीतमखिलं जगत् । पश्यन्नपि सदा नैव पश्यति स्वात्मनः पृथक्
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmavijñānasampannaḥ pratītamakhilaṃ jagat | paśyannapi sadā naiva paśyati svātmanaḥ pṛthak
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्म-विज्ञान-सम्पन्नःbrahma-vijñāna-sampannaḥfull of the realization of brahman
प्रतीतम् अखिलं जगत्pratītam akhilaṃ jagatseeing the whole appearing world
पश्यन् अपि सदा न एवpaśyan api sadā na evathough he sees it, always, never
पश्यति स्व-आत्मनः पृथक्paśyati sva-ātmanaḥ pṛthakdoes he see it as separate from his own self
Translation
"Full of the realization of brahman, though he sees the whole appearing world, he never sees it as separate from his own self."
Version
3810e993e304 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the phrase pashyann api... na pashyati, "though he sees... does not see."
That is, one who has attained does not stop seeing: the world is before him, and he observes it. This definition is far gentler than what we read in the Jabala-darshana (10.11), where the highest state was called na pashyati, "does not see all beings"; and there we noted such an ascent ends in solitude. Here it is said differently: he sees — but not as separate.
This difference deserves stating, for it is great. Not to see means to leave communion. To see, but not as separate, means to remain in communion and change oneself within it.
The second is, in my view, truer and closer to what the Vaishnava side calls the highest rung: sarva-bhuteshu... bhagavad-bhavam, "the presence of the Lord in all beings" (Bhagavatam 11.2.45). Let us add what it specifies here, and what constitutes its whole correction.
Seeing as not separate can be twofold: not separate from oneself and not separate from Him. The first places the observer at the center and makes everything his extension. The second places Him at the center and makes everything, including the observer, His possession.
The first ends in a person having no one to speak with; the second in his having no one to quarrel with.