Upaniṣads · 1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्यद् एवाहुर् विद्ययान् यद् आहुर् अविद्यया ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस् तद् विचचक्षिरे
Transliteración (IAST)
anyad evāhur vidyayān yad āhur avidyayā |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ ye nas tad vicacakṣire
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अन्यत्anyatone thing; another; something different
एवevaprecisely; truly; quite
आहुःāhuḥthey say; they declare; they hand down
विद्ययाvidyayāby knowledge; through vidyā; by means of spiritual knowledge
अन्यत्anyatanother thing; something else; something different
आहुःāhuḥthey say; they declare; they hand down
अविद्ययाavidyayāby ignorance; through avidyā; by means of action without knowledge
इतिitithus; in this way; this is what
शुश्रुमśuśrumawe have heard (perfect of √śru — 'to hear'); we have received by hearing; it was handed down to us
धीराणाम्dhīrāṇāmfrom the wise; from the steadfast (dhīra — 'unshaken in mind'); from the self-possessed
येyewho; they who; the sages who
नःnaḥto us; for us; us
तत्tatthis; that; this meaning
विचचक्षिरेvicacakṣireexplained (vi-√cakṣ — 'to disclose, to expound'); expounded; laid open
Traducción
One thing, they say, comes from knowledge, and another from ignorance; so have we heard from the wise who explained it to us.
Versión
6f5c360b8b25 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 19:17:19 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The middle mantra of the triad lays the foundation for the distinction: anyad evāhur vidyayā, anyad āhur avidyayā — "one thing, they say, comes of vidyā, another of avidyā". Knowledge and activity have different fruits, and therefore they can neither be confused nor substituted for one another: the fruit of pure knowledge is liberation, the fruit of activity is purification and the sustaining of life; one will not replace the other, as the eye will not replace the feet.
The very form of the utterance is precious: iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām — "so have we heard from the wise, who explained this to us". The Upaniṣad — the summit of revelation — does not say "so we have decided" or "so it was disclosed to us in meditation"; it appeals to hearing from previous teachers. Spiritual knowledge lives by transmission from the one who has attained to the one who is walking; the very root √śru ("to hear") gave revelation its name — śruti. And dhīra means "steadfast", one whose intelligence is not swayed by the winds of opinion: only from such is it worth listening.
Thus the mantra devoted to distinguishing the paths quietly teaches a method as well: do not invent the truth, but receive it from trustworthy lips — and verify it by living. The Bhagavad-gītā (4.34) expresses the same principle as a command: tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā — "learn it by bowing down, by inquiry and by service".