उपनिषद् · Mahā 4.129
॥
देवनागरी
मा भवाज्ञो भव ज्ञस्त्वं जहि संसारभावनाम् अनात्मन्यात्मभावेन किमज्ञ इव रोदिषि
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
mā bhavājño bhava jñastvaṃ jahi saṃsārabhāvanām anātmanyātmabhāvena kimajña iva rodiṣi
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
मा भव अज्ञःmā bhava ajñaḥbe not unknowing; do not remain an ignorant one
भव ज्ञः त्वम्bhava jñaḥ tvambe thou a knower; become one who knows
जहि संसार-भावनाम्jahi saṃsāra-bhāvanāmslay the thought of the round; strike down the musing on the whirl
अनात्मनि आत्म-भावेनanātmani ātma-bhāvenaby thinking thyself in the non-self; through deeming thyself what thou art not
किम् अज्ञः इव रोदिषिkim ajñaḥ iva rodiṣiwhy dost thou weep like an ignorant man; why dost thou wail like an unlearned one
अनुवाद
“Be not unknowing — be a knower; cast off the thought of the round. Why dost thou weep like an ignorant man, thinking thyself what thou art not?”
संस्करण
2d85d918bf06 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A direct and almost homely address: “why dost thou weep?”
After dozens of verses on consciousness, vāsanās and non-designing, suddenly the simple reproach with which one quiets a child.
Note the verb rodiṣi — “thou weepest, wailest”. It carries us back to the third chapter, where Nidāgha set out his long lament over the world.
The teacher does not reject that lament: he heard it out entire, a whole chapter. But now he says: enough — and says it with that tenderness which exists only in closeness.
Mā bhavājño bhava jñas tvam — “be not unknowing, be a knower”: said as though it were in his power. And, by the whole structure of the chapter, it truly is.
Recall 4.88, where “man-worm” was flung at the pupil, and 4.102, where he is called “sinless”. The teacher's tone keeps changing, and it is the tone of a living conversation, not of a treatise.