नैवमात्मा प्रवचनशतेनापि लभ्यते न बहुश्रुतेन न बुद्धिज्ञानाश्रितेन न मेधया न वेदैर्न यज्ञैर्न तपोभिरुग्रैर्न सांख्यैर्न योगैर्नाश्रमैर्नान्यैरात्मानमुपुलभन्ते प्रवचनेन प्रशंसया व्युत्थानेन तमेतं ब्राह्मणा शुश्रुवांसोऽनूचाना उपलभन्ते शान्तो दान्त उपरतस्तितिक्षुः समाहितो भूत्वात्मन्येवात्मानं पश्यति सर्वस्यात्मा भवति य एवं वेद
naivamātmā pravacanaśatenāpi labhyate na bahuśrutena na buddhijñānāśritena na medhayā na vedairna yajñairna tapobhirugrairna sāṃkhyairna yogairnāśramairnānyairātmānamupulabhante pravacanena praśaṃsayā vyutthānena tametaṃ brāhmaṇā śuśruvāṃso'nūcānā upalabhante śānto dānta uparatastitikṣuḥ samāhito bhūtvātmanyevātmānaṃ paśyati sarvasyātmā bhavati ya evaṃ veda
Not so is this self obtained: neither by a hundred expositions, nor by much hearing, nor by reliance on intellectual knowledge, nor by memory, nor by Vedas, nor by sacrifices, nor by fierce austerities, nor by sāṅkhyas, nor by yogas, nor by the orders of life, nor by anything else do they obtain it — not by exposition, not by praise, not by outward exertion. Him the brāhmaṇas who have listened and studied obtain; and, having become calmed, restrained, withdrawn, patient and collected, a man sees the self in himself alone and becomes the self of all — who so knows.
1c2a4759fd9e · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 4:12:03 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
One of the sternest places in the śruti and one of the most important.
The first half is a list of what the self cannot be won by, and the list is drawn up so that no one is left aside. Not by a hundred expositions — that is, not by preaching. Not by much hearing and not by memory — that is, not by erudition and not by a good head. Not by Vedas and not by sacrifices — that is, not by the rite. Not by fierce austerities — that is, not by asceticism. Not by sāṅkhya and not by yoga — that is, not by philosophy and not by the technique of concentration. And not by the āśramas — that is, not even by a right ordering of life.
Everything by which a man commonly hopes to win the highest is struck through. The Kaṭha and the Muṇḍaka know the same thought: “not by reasoning is this Ātman attained”.
And three things are added, named separately: pravacana, praśaṁsā, vyutthāna — exposition, praise and outward exertion. The three usual occupations of a religious man: to teach others, to laud, and to bustle. They are named after the whole list, as if in reminder: this too is no means.
What then? The answer is given sparely and in two moves.
The first: “the brāhmaṇas who have listened and studied obtain him”. So hearing and study are not cast away — what is cast away is the hope in them as a winning means. One must learn; but one cannot learn one's way to Him.
The second, and it is the chief one: five states — calmed, restrained, withdrawn, patient, collected. Not five deeds, but five properties of the man. The same list stands in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka in the description of the one able to see.
And then — “he sees the self in himself alone”. He does not find it somewhere; he sees it where it always was; and therefore he “becomes the self of all”.
Note how this meets the end of the Śvetāśvatara, where it is said that the meanings shine forth for the one who has the highest devotion. There the condition of the heart is named, here the condition of the character. And in both cases one thing is said: the last is not won by effort; it is given to the one who has become fit.