Upanishads · Varāha 2.30
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वस्वरूपतया सर्वं वेद स्वानुभवेन यः । स धीरः स तु विज्ञेयः सोऽहं तत्त्वं ऋभो भव
Transliteration (IAST)
svasvarūpatayā sarvaṃ veda svānubhavena yaḥ | sa dhīraḥ sa tu vijñeyaḥ so'haṃ tattvaṃ ṛbho bhava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्व-स्वरूपतया सर्वंsva-svarūpatayā sarvaṃas one's own true nature — everything
वेद स्व-अनुभवेन यःveda sva-anubhavena yaḥknows by his own experience, who
सः धीरः सः तु विज्ञेयःsaḥ dhīraḥ saḥ tu vijñeyaḥthat one is steadfast, that one indeed must be known
सः अहं तत्त्वं ऋभो भवsaḥ ahaṃ tattvaṃ ṛbho bhavathat one am I; be the truth, O Ribhu
Translation
"Who knows everything, by his own experience, as his own true nature, — that one is steadfast, that one must be known; that one am I. Be the truth, O Ribhu."
Version
2b52c3fe0b7a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting is the word sva-anubhavena, "by his own experience." Of the difference between jnana and anubhava, "knowledge and experience," it was discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p1); and it was noted there that the Vaishnava side places testimony between them. Let us briefly repeat its argument. Direct perception of the Highest is impossible; inference does not serve; what remains is shabda, "word." But the word leads to experience: one hears not in order to know by hearsay, but in order to be tested by it.
Let us add what deserves saying of experience itself as a measure. Experience cannot be verified by anyone, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (6.36): what a person has experienced within himself, he alone knows. Hence the Vaishnava side does not reject this measure, but does not leave it alone either: it places beside it the testimony of the books and a change of character.
The three measures together — what is said, what is experienced, and what is shown in conduct — rarely coincide, and are hence reliable; each alone deceives. The last words of the verse — so'ham tattvam ribho bhava, "that one am I; be the truth, O Ribhu" — are the usual identification of these books, discussed when reading the Tarasara (1.11). Let us add only that the address by name — ribho — deserves noting. The teaching is given to a person, named by name; and hence even where the book speaks of oneness, the conversation remains between two.