उपनिषद् · Mahā 2.11
॥
देवनागरी
निष्ठा वेदान्तवाक्यानामथ वाचामगोचरः अहं सच्चित्परानन्दब्रह्मैवास्मि न चेतरः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
niṣṭhā vedāntavākyānāmatha vācāmagocaraḥ ahaṃ saccitparānandabrahmaivāsmi na cetaraḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
निष्ठा वेदान्त-वाक्यानाम्niṣṭhā vedānta-vākyānāmthe consummation of the sayings of Vedānta; the terminus of Vedānta's utterances
अथ वाचाम् अगोचरःatha vācām agocaraḥand yet beyond the range of speech; and at the same time outside the reach of words
अहम् सत्-चित्-पर-आनन्दःaham sat-cit-para-ānandaḥI am being, consciousness, highest bliss; I am the existent, the aware, supreme delight
ब्रह्म एव अस्मिbrahma eva asmiI am Brahman itself; I am precisely Brahman
न च इतरःna ca itaraḥand not another; and no one else
अनुवाद
He is the consummation of all the sayings of Vedānta and yet beyond the range of speech. “I am being, consciousness, highest bliss; I am Brahman, and not anything else.”
संस्करण
ead8c5a35ec1 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The two half-verses stand side by side almost as a challenge to each other.
He is niṣṭhā, “the terminus, the consummation” of all Vedānta's words: to Him they lead, on Him they end. And He is also vācām agocaraḥ — “no pasture for words”, where speech does not enter.
The one does not cancel the other. Words bring one to the threshold and there stop; this does not mean they were in vain.
The second half is the famous formula of self-knowledge: sac-cid-ānanda, being-consciousness-bliss. And the conclusion: “I am Brahman.”
Here caution is needed, and Vaiṣṇava Vedānta spells it out. The assertion “I am Brahman” is true as a negation: I am not the body, not the mind, not a role, not a name; by nature I am the same as He — consciousness and not matter. It is false if read as “I am the All-highest”: then one would have to explain why this “I” was just now wandering and suffering.
This chapter itself gives no such reading: Śuka, knowing everything by himself, still goes to Janaka, and Janaka bows to him. Between them a difference remains — the very one of which verse 2.7 said that it too is from Him.