उपनिषद् · Parabrahma 1.2
॥
देवनागरी
तस्मै स होवाच । एतत्सत्यं यत्प्रब्रवीमि ब्रह्मविद्यां वरिष्ठां देवेभ्यः प्राणेभ्यः । परब्रह्मपुरे विरजं निष्कलं शुभमक्षरं विरजं विभाति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tasmai sa hovāca | etatsatyaṃ yatprabravīmi brahmavidyāṃ variṣṭhāṃ devebhyaḥ prāṇebhyaḥ | parabrahmapure virajaṃ niṣkalaṃ śubhamakṣaraṃ virajaṃ vibhāti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तस्मै सः ह उवाचtasmai saḥ ha uvācato him he said
एतत् सत्यं यत् प्रब्रवीमिetat satyaṃ yat prabravīmithis is the truth that I proclaim
ब्रह्म-विद्यां वरिष्ठांbrahma-vidyāṃ variṣṭhāṃthe science of brahman, the finest
परब्रह्म-पुरे विरजंparabrahma-pure virajaṃin the city of the Highest Brahman, dustless
निष्कलं शुभम् अ-क्षरं विभातिniṣkalaṃ śubham a-kṣaraṃ vibhātipartless, auspicious, imperishable, shines
अनुवाद
To him he said: this is the truth that I proclaim — the science of brahman, the finest... in the city of the Highest Brahman shines the dustless, partless, auspicious, imperishable.
संस्करण
8ab58654d793 · प्रकाशित 6 अग॰ 2026, 4:32:42 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The answer begins with an assurance: etat satyam yat prabravīmi, "this is the truth that I proclaim." This phrase in the upaniṣads is not empty courtesy. The teacher vouches for his own word; and this vouching is, in essence, the only thing by which such knowledge is verified. It cannot be checked by experience or by calculation; it is verified by trusting the one who spoke.
Look at the image that will be central to the book: parabrahma-pura, "the city of the Highest Brahman." The word pura means "city, fortress, an enclosed place"; and the body is constantly called this in Vaiṣṇava books: the Gītā speaks of nava-dvāra-pura, "the city of nine gates" (5.13). The image of the city is good because it presupposes an inhabitant. Someone lives in a city, and a city is not built by itself; and Śaunaka's question was put exactly this way: "who are established in the wondrous city of brahman?"
The Vaiṣṇava reading holds this image and continues it: if the body is a city, then it has both a lord and a resident, and they are different. The Gītā speaks of this same city: "in it dwells the possessor of the body, neither acting nor causing to act" (5.13); and "possessor" is a word of relation — one possesses something that is not oneself.