Upaniṣads · Jābāladarśana 9.5
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मानं सच्चिदानन्दमनन्तं ब्रह्म सुव्रत । अहमस्मीत्यभिध्यायेद्ध्येयातीतं विमुक्तये
Transliteración (IAST)
ātmānaṃ saccidānandamanantaṃ brahma suvrata | ahamasmītyabhidhyāyeddhyeyātītaṃ vimuktaye
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
आत्मानं सत्-चित्-आनन्दम्ātmānaṃ sat-cit-ānandamthe self, being, consciousness, bliss
अनन्तं ब्रह्म सु-व्रतanantaṃ brahma su-vratainfinite, brahman, O one true to his vow
अहम् अस्मि इति अभिध्यायेत्aham asmi iti abhidhyāyet'I am' — let him contemplate
ध्येय-अतीतं विमुक्तयेdhyeya-atītaṃ vimuktayeexceeding the contemplated, for liberation
Traducción
"…the self — being, consciousness, bliss, infinite, brahman, O one true to his vow — let him contemplate, 'I am,' exceeding the contemplated, for liberation."
Versión
81b3f0c4c0ec · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The line contains an expression deserving examination, for it undermines its own instruction: dhyeya-atitam, "exceeding the contemplated." That is, one is told to contemplate what does not admit of contemplation. This difficulty is not hidden in nondualist books, but acknowledged; and the way out usually given is this: contemplation is carried to its limit, and there it stops of itself, leaving what lies beyond it.
This explanation is legitimate, and there is no need to dispute it. It is worth noting only that, with such an arrangement, the last rung is not a rung: it is the cessation of all rungs. The Vaishnava side raises here an objection already discussed when reading the seventh khanda (7.13), and worth repeating as applied to this passage.
A state in which there is neither contemplator nor contemplated is the limit of the path of removal. One arrives at it by removing everything; and hence there is nothing to say of it except that none of what was removed is there. But there is also another path — of addition; and its limit is different. There the contemplated does not vanish, but becomes such that the contemplator cannot tear himself away from it.
Let us add what this very line unwittingly testifies. It bids one contemplate "I am" — aham asmi; and anyone who tries will notice that this exercise cannot do without a speaker. The formula "I am" is built so as to presuppose someone uttering it; and if the limit were reached, there would be no one left to utter it. Hence the exercise itself testifies against what it is supposed to lead to.