Upaniṣads · Mahā 4.5
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वानुभूतेश्च शास्त्रस्य गुरोश्चेवैकवाक्यता यस्याभ्यासेन तेनात्म सततं चावलोक्यते
Transliteración (IAST)
svānubhūteśca śāstrasya guroścevaikavākyatā yasyābhyāsena tenātma satataṃ cāvalokyate
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
स्व-अनुभूतेः च शास्त्रस्यsva-anubhūteḥ ca śāstrasyaof one's own experience and of scripture; of personal realisation and of the writing
गुरोः च एव एक-वाक्यताguroḥ ca eva eka-vākyatāand of the teacher — one utterance; and of the preceptor — unity of speech
यस्य अभ्यासेन तेन आत्माyasya abhyāsena tena ātmāby whose practice the Ātman; by application to which, the Self
सततम् च अवलोक्यतेsatatam ca avalokyateis beheld unceasingly too; is constantly discerned as well
Traducción
“One's own experience, scripture and the teacher — the concord of these three in one; by practising it the Ātman is beheld unceasingly.”
Versión
86d6e891055b · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
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Here is named the rule of verification by which Vedānta lives: eka-vākyatā — “single-speech”.
Three witnesses: one's own experience, scripture, the preceptor. True is that in which all three say one thing.
This is exactly what happened to Śuka in the second chapter, where he counted: I knew it myself, my father said the same, thou sayest the same, and the same stands in the śāstras (2.32–2.33). There it was described as an event; here it is raised into a rule.
Why all three are needed is plain if any one is removed.
Without experience there remains rote-learning: a man repeats true words with nothing behind them.
Without scripture there remains self-will: every experience seems incontestable to its owner.
Without the teacher there remains the merely read: a book cannot correct you, for it does not see you.
Note also the verb at the end — avalokyate, “is beheld”. The fruit of the three witnesses' concord is named not conviction but seeing.