उपनिषद् · Mahā 4.80
॥
देवनागरी
प्रज्ञानमेव तद्ब्रह्म सत्यप्रज्ञानलक्षणम् एवं ब्रह्मपरिज्ञानादेव मर्त्याऽमृतो भवेत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
prajñānameva tadbrahma satyaprajñānalakṣaṇam evaṃ brahmaparijñānādeva martyā'mṛto bhavet
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
प्रज्ञानम् एव तत् ब्रह्मprajñānam eva tat brahmathat knowing itself is Brahman; precisely awareness — it is Brahman
सत्य-प्रज्ञान-लक्षणम्satya-prajñāna-lakṣaṇamwhose mark is true knowing; whose token is genuine awareness
एवम् ब्रह्म-परिज्ञानात्evam brahma-parijñānātthus, from the full knowledge of Brahman; so, from the complete comprehension of Brahman
एव मर्त्यः अमृतः भवेत्eva martyaḥ amṛtaḥ bhavetthe mortal shall become immortal; the mortal will be made deathless
अनुवाद
“That knowing itself is Brahman, whose mark is true knowing; thus, from the full knowledge of Brahman, the mortal becomes immortal.”
संस्करण
14984058882b · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The first line is one of the great sayings: prajñānaṃ brahma, “knowing is Brahman”. It stands in the Aitareya Upaniṣad and is counted the mahāvākya of the Ṛgveda.
Here it is given with a gloss: satya-prajñāna-lakṣaṇam — “whose mark is true knowing”.
The gloss is needed. Not every knowledge is Brahman: information, memory, reckoning are not it. The speech is of prajñāna — the very capacity of being aware, which is present in every act of knowing and depends on no object.
The second half is a promise: martyo'mṛto bhavet, “the mortal shall become immortal”.
This is a turn from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka and the Kaṭha, recurring in the Upaniṣads constantly.
Note that immortality is promised not as the prolongation of life, but as a change in what one takes oneself to be. Mortal is he who fancies himself the body; the knower knows that he is that which knows — and the knowing does not die.