Upanishads · Varāha 3.19
॥
Devanāgarī
न कर्ता नैव भोक्ता च न च भोजयिता तथा । केवलं चित्सदानन्दब्रह्मैवाहं जनार्दनः
Transliteration (IAST)
na kartā naiva bhoktā ca na ca bhojayitā tathā | kevalaṃ citsadānandabrahmaivāhaṃ janārdanaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न कर्ता नna kartā nanot the doer, not
एव भोक्ता चeva bhoktā caindeed the enjoyer, and
न च भोजयिता तथाna ca bhojayitā tathāand not likewise the feeder
केवलं चित्-सत्-आनन्द-kevalaṃ cit-sat-ānanda-only consciousness, being, bliss
ब्रह्म एव अहं जनार्दनःbrahma eva ahaṃ janārdanaḥbrahman I indeed am, Janardana
Translation
"Not the doer, nor the enjoyer, and not the feeder either; only consciousness, being, bliss — brahman I am, Janardana."
Version
a010db3f95ca · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse where the device of excision ends in a name, and this deserves noting. Three negations are listed: not the doer, not the enjoyer, not the feeder; then three definitions: consciousness, being, bliss; and then — brahmaivaham janardanah, "brahman I am — Janardana." Janardana is a name of Vishnu and means "one who stirs people" or "the one to whom people turn in supplication," from jana ("people") and ard ("to stir, to entreat").
That is, after three negations and three abstract definitions stands a personal name, and, moreover, a name denoting relation to people. Let us compare to what was discussed when reading the Panchabrahma (13): there the Mandukya, having listed a dozen negations, could not manage without one positive assertion — shivam, "benign." Here the same, only stronger: not a property, but a name.
The Vaishnava side points to such endings constantly, and its rule is stated thus: negations do not hold to the end; every time the discourse reaches what remains, a Person appears in the language. Let us add what deserves noting in the list of negations itself. What is denied is bhojayita, "feeder" — that is, one who feeds others.
This word is rare and does not ordinarily stand in such lists; and its appearance here shows the list was composed by someone for whom feeding was a third chief act, alongside doing and enjoying. And this, in my view, is a householder's trait, not a hermit's.