Upaniṣads · Kena 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
यन् मनसा न मनुते येनाहुर् मनो मतम् ।
तद् एव ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यद् इदम् उपासते ॥
Transliteración (IAST)
yan manasā na manute yenāhur mano matam |
tad eva brahma tvaṃ viddhi nedaṃ yad idam upāsate ||
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
यत्yatwhat; that which
मनसाmanasāby the mind; by thought
नnanot; no
मनुतेmanutethinks (from √man — 'to think'); conceives; grasps by thought
येनyenaby which; thanks to which
आहुःāhuḥthey say; they call
मनःmanaḥthe mind; thought
मतम्matamis thought; is conceived (participle of √man); is grasped by the mind
तत्tatthat; precisely this
एवevaindeed; truly
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the Absolute
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
विद्धिviddhiknow; understand
नnanot; no
इदम्idamthis; this here
यत्yatwhich; that which
इदम्idamthis; here
उपासतेupāsatethey worship; they contemplate
Traducción
That which the mind does not think, but by which, they say, the mind itself is thought — know that alone to be Brahman, and not what men here worship.
Versión
12283cd44ac4 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 19:28:41 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The second step of the refrain — the mind. yan manasā na manute — "what is not thought by the mind"; yenāhur mano matam — "but by whom, the wise say, the mind itself is thought". An astonishing turn: our thinker is himself thought; the mind, so proud of its role as observer, discovers that it is observed. It is an instrument in someone's hand, a window lit from outside, not the source of light.
This mantra is a verdict upon every philosophy that proposes to enclose the Absolute in a concept: what a concept holds is a concept, not He. The Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.9) says outright: naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā — "this understanding is not to be attained by argument". What, then, is left for the mind? Not the suicide of thought, but a change of its service: from a measurer of Truth the mind may become its servant — questioning, listening, remembering.
A mind that has acknowledged a Thinker above itself begins for the first time to think rightly: such is the paradox which the fifth and sixth mantras prepare, and which the whole story of the third khaṇḍa — of gods who did not recognise the Source of their strength — will act out in persons.