उपनिषद् · Kena 3.4
॥
देवनागरी
तद् अभ्यद्रवत् तम् अभ्यवदत् को ऽसीत्य् अग्निर् वा अहम् अस्मीत्य् अब्रवीज् जातवेदा वा अहम् अस्मीति ॥
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tad abhyadravat tam abhyavadat ko 'sīty agnir vā aham asmīty abravīj jātavedā vā aham asmīti ||
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तत्tatto Him; towards that
अभ्यद्रवत्abhyadravatrushed up (abhi-√dru — 'to run towards'); sped; approached
तम्tamto him; him
अभ्यवदत्abhyavadataddressed, asked (abhi-√vad); spoke to; said to
कःkaḥwho; which
असिasiare you; you are
इतिitithus; saying
अग्निःagniḥAgni; fire
वैvaiverily; indeed
अहम्ahamI; I myself
अस्मिasmiam; I am
इतिitithus; saying
अब्रवीत्abravīthe said; he answered
जातवेदाःjātavedāḥJātavedas; the knower of what is born
वैvaiverily; indeed
अहम्ahamI; I myself
अस्मिasmiam; I am
इतिitithus; saying
अनुवाद
He rushed towards Him. [The yakṣa] asked him: "Who are you?" — "I am Agni, I am Jātavedas."
संस्करण
d5b5c7e100d6 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 7:28:41 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
abhyadravat — "rushed, ran up": fire is swift and used to everything giving way before it. But it is not he who speaks first: ko 'si — "who are you?" asks the yakṣa. The Lord's question to one grown proud is always the same — a question about who you are; it is not a request for information but an invitation to remember yourself.
And Agni answers with a name and a title: "I am Agni, I am Jātavedas" — name and office, fame and function. The answer is correct — and beside the point: before the Source of all names, defining oneself by one's service record does not answer the question. The one exact answer of a creature before the Lord — "I am Yours" — does not occur to him; to the proud "who are you?" sounds like "introduce yourself", to the humble like "whose are you?" The whole scene, repeated twice over (with Vāyu, word for word), is a mirror set before every "I" accustomed to define itself by its merits.