Upanishads · Varāha 2.41
॥
Devanāgarī
अस्ति ब्रह्मेति चेद्वेद परोक्षज्ञानमेव तत् । अहं ब्रह्मेति चेद्वेद साक्षात्कारः स उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
asti brahmeti cedveda parokṣajñānameva tat | ahaṃ brahmeti cedveda sākṣātkāraḥ sa ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अस्ति ब्रह्म इति चेत् वेदasti brahma iti cet vedaif he knows 'brahman exists'
परोक्ष-ज्ञानम् एव तत्parokṣa-jñānam eva tatthat is indirect knowledge indeed
अहं ब्रह्म इति चेत् वेदahaṃ brahma iti cet vedaif he knows 'I am brahman'
साक्षात्-कारः सः उच्यतेsākṣāt-kāraḥ saḥ ucyatethat is called direct perception
Translation
"If he knows 'brahman exists' — that is indirect knowledge; if he knows 'I am brahman' — that is called direct perception."
Version
70d58d672148 · published Aug 7, 2026, 9:08:31 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse gives a distinction fundamental in Vedanta: paroksha and sakshatkara, "indirect knowledge" and "direct perception." Of the words paroksha and aparoksha, discussed when reading the Mahavakya (p1): the first means "behind the eye," the second "before the eyes." The distinction is itself true and useful, and the Vaishnava side holds it.
To know that He exists, and to see Him, are different states; and anyone who believes from books knows he is far from the second. Our objection is not to the distinction, but to what defines the second. Here direct perception is defined by the formula "I am brahman."
The Vaishnava side defines it differently: direct perception is sakshatkara of a Person, that is, a meeting. And its argument here is simple: the formula "I am brahman" is a statement, and a statement is a word; and a word belongs to indirect knowledge, not direct. That is, one who utters "I am brahman" thereby reveals that he is still reasoning.
Let us add what it calls the mark of the direct, discussed when reading verse fifteen: not a formula, but the involuntary — what cannot be faked. The Bhagavatam says this directly: one whose "voice breaks, whose heart melts, and who often weeps" (11.14.24); and this mark is not a statement.