Upaniṣads · Varāha 2.7
॥
Devanāgarī
अहमेव सुखं नान्यदन्यच्चेन्नैव तत्सुखम् । अमदर्थं न हि प्रेयो मदर्थं न स्वतःप्रियम्
Transliteración (IAST)
ahameva sukhaṃ nānyadanyaccennaiva tatsukham | amadarthaṃ na hi preyo madarthaṃ na svataḥpriyam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अहम् एव सुखं न अन्यत्aham eva sukhaṃ na anyatI am indeed happiness, not another
अन्यत् चेत्anyat cetif it be another
न एव तत् सुखम्na eva tat sukhamthat is indeed not happiness
अ-मत्-अर्थं न हि प्रेयःa-mat-arthaṃ na hi preyaḥnot for my sake — is not dear
मत्-अर्थं न स्वतः प्रियम्mat-arthaṃ na svataḥ priyamfor my sake — is not dear on its own
Traducción
"I am indeed happiness, and not another; if it be another, that is not happiness. What is not for my sake is never dear; what is for my sake is not dear on its own."
Versión
f490d6fa0f90 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The line cites an argument that is, among the Upanishads, the most famous, and it goes back to Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka. Here is the original: na va are sarvasya kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati, atmanas tu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati, "not for the sake of everything, dear one, is everything dear, but for the sake of the self is everything dear" (2.4.5). And it is unfolded there: not for the husband's sake is the husband dear, but for the self's; not for the wife's sake is the wife dear; not for the sons', not for wealth's, not for the worlds' — but for the self's.
This argument deserves examination, for it is strong. Let us ask ourselves why what is dear is dear to us. Is it because it is so in itself — or because it is so for us?
The answer is obvious and unpleasant: the very same person, ceasing to be ours, ceases also to be dear. So it is not the object we love, but ourselves in relation to the object. The Vaishnava side accepts the argument and draws from it not the conclusion drawn here. It says: it is true that what is one's own is dearer than what is another's; but from this it follows not that one should love oneself, but that one should find the One whose "own" is everything.
And it cites the second half of that same passage of the Brihadaranyaka, which this verse omits: there Yajnavalkya does not end with "love yourself," but with atma va are drashtavyah shrotavyo mantavyo nididhyasitavyah, "the self must be seen, heard, thought upon, deeply contemplated" (2.4.5). That is, one is told to seek it; and, as said more than once, one seeks only another.