उपनिषद् · Parabrahma 1.9
॥
देवनागरी
यथा कुमारको निष्काम आनन्दमभियाति । तथैष देवः स्वप्न आनन्दमभियाति वेद एव परं ज्योतिः । ज्योतिषामा ज्योतिरानन्दयत्येवमेव । तत्परं यच्चित्तं परमात्मानमानन्दयति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
yathā kumārako niṣkāma ānandamabhiyāti | tathaiṣa devaḥ svapna ānandamabhiyāti veda eva paraṃ jyotiḥ | jyotiṣāmā jyotirānandayatyevameva | tatparaṃ yaccittaṃ paramātmānamānandayati
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
यथा कुमारकः निष्कामःyathā kumārakaḥ niṣkāmaḥas a carefree child
आनन्दम् अभियातिānandam abhiyātigoes toward bliss
तथा एषः देवः स्वप्नेtathā eṣaḥ devaḥ svapneso this god in sleep
आनन्दम् अभियातिānandam abhiyātigoes toward bliss
ज्योतिषाम् आ ज्योतिः आनन्दयतिjyotiṣām ā jyotiḥ ānandayatithe light of lights gladdens
अनुवाद
As a carefree child goes toward bliss, so too this god in sleep goes toward bliss; only the highest light knows; the light of lights gladdens.
संस्करण
ac87df1cf3bc · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The simile of the child is apt and was discussed when reading the Ātma-upaniṣad (10–11): a child, absorbed in play, forgets hunger and pain. Here another feature is taken: niṣkāma, "carefree, without desires." The child goes toward joy not because he earned or achieved it, but because it is given to him; and he does not even notice this.
This, to my mind, is the best thing in the simile. An adult obtains joy, and so rarely rejoices; a child receives it, and so rejoices constantly. The difference is not in the amount of joy in the world, but in who arranges it for himself.
It is worth noting the verb too: ānandayati, "gladdens." Not "is bliss," but — gladdens someone; and its subject is jyotiṣām jyotiḥ, "the light of lights." The Vaiṣṇava reading stands on exactly this verb. The bliss spoken of in Vaiṣṇava books is not a state, but an act: He gladdens, and someone is gladdened. The Gītā says this with the word prasāda, "gracious favor": "by His grace you will attain the highest peace" (18.62); and there too: "from gracious favor all his sufferings vanish" (2.65).