Upaniṣads · Kauṣītaki 4.11
॥
Devanāgarī
स होवाच बालाकिर्य एवैष प्रतिश्रुत्कायां पुरुषस्तमेवाहमुपास इति तं होवाचाजातशत्रुर्मा मैतस्मिन्समवादयिष्ठा द्वितीयोऽनपग इति वा अहमेतमुपास इति स यो हैतमेवमुपास्ते विन्दते द्वितीयाद्द्वितीयवान्भवति
Transliteración (IAST)
sa hovāca bālākirya evaiṣa pratiśrutkāyāṃ puruṣastamevāhamupāsa iti taṃ hovācājātaśatrurmā maitasminsamavādayiṣṭhā dvitīyo'napaga iti vā ahametamupāsa iti sa yo haitamevamupāste vindate dvitīyāddvitīyavānbhavati
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
सः ह उवाच बालाकिःsaḥ ha uvāca bālākiḥBālāki said; spoke Bālāki
यः एव एषः प्रतिश्रुत्कायाम् पुरुषःyaḥ eva eṣaḥ pratiśrutkāyām puruṣaḥ“the puruṣa who is in the echo”; “the person who is in the resounding”
तम् एव अहम् उपासे इतिtam eva aham upāse iti“him I revere”; “precisely him I worship”
तम् ह उवाच अजातशत्रुःtam ha uvāca ajātaśatruḥAjātaśatru said to him; that Ajātaśatru replied
मा मा एतस्मिन् समवादयिष्ठाःmā mā etasmin samavādayiṣṭhāḥ“do not draw me into talk of him”; “do not make me discourse of him”
द्वितीयः अनपगः इतिdvitīyaḥ anapagaḥ iti“the Second, the undeparting”; “the companion who never lags behind”
वै अहम् एतम् उपासे इतिvai aham etam upāse iti“so do I revere him”; “thus I worship him”
सः यः ह एतम्saḥ yaḥ ha etamand he who him; the one who him
एवम् उपास्तेevam upāsteso reveres; worships thus
विन्दते द्वितीयात्vindate dvitīyātobtains from the second; receives through the companion
द्वितीयवान् भवतिdvitīyavān bhavatiand becomes possessed of a second; becomes one who has a companion
Traducción
Bālāki said: “The puruṣa who is in the echo — him I revere.” Ajātaśatru said to him: “Do not draw me into talk of him! I revere him as the Second, the undeparting.” And he who so reveres him obtains through the second and becomes possessed of a second.
Versión
0339feb0a951 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 3:43:45 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Second in the inner series is the echo, and the correction names it dvitīya anapaga: “the Second, who does not depart”.
And such the echo truly is: it answers whenever you shout, and never speaks first. It is inseparable from the voice — and yet distinct from it. A better image for “the second” could not be found.
The fruit is described in two phrases, and both should be heard. “Obtains through the second” — that is, receives not alone, but thanks to another. And “becomes possessed of a second” — that is, ceases to be alone.
This is a rare promise in the Upaniṣads. Usually the highest is described as “one without a second”; here the opposite is set down as a blessing — to have a companion, one who answers and does not depart.
There is no contradiction: the levels differ. But in a book that will end with the words “He is my self”, such a reverence is no accident: the capacity to have a second and not to be alone is what the soul lives by even in its highest state.