Intermediate Exercises
This page presents the text and pronunciation of short Vedic expressions—perfect practice for the intermediate Sanskrit reader
Sarvaṁ khalu idaṁ Brahma
All this is Brahm—Totality.
—Chhāndogya Upanishad 3.14.1
Prakṛitiṁ svām avashtabhya visṛijāmi punaḥ punaḥ
Curving back upon My own Nature, I create again and again.
—Bhagavad-Gītā 9.8
Nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna
Be without the three guṇas, O Arjuna.
—Bhagavad-Gītā 2.45
Satyaṁ brūyāt priyaṁ brūyāt
— Agni Purāṇa 371.8
Dvitīyād vai bhayaṁ bhavati
Certainly fear is born of duality.
—Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 1.4.2
Mayādhyaksheṇa prakṛitiḥ
Under my presidentship Prakṛiti, all of Nature, creates both the moving and unmoving.
—Bhagavad-Gītā 9.10
Heyaṁ duḥkham anāgatam
Avert the danger that has not yet come.
—Yoga Sūtra 2.16
Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi
Established in Yoga (the Self), perform action.
—Bhagavad-Gītā 2.48
Pragyānaṁ Brahma
Fully awake self-referral dynamism (of the universe) … is Brahman
—Aitareya Upanishad 3.1.3
Nivartadhvam
Retire.
—Ṛk Veda 10.19.1
Anoraṇīyān mahatomahīyān
Smaller than the smallest is bigger than the biggest.
—Katha Upanishad 1.2.20
Brahmavit Brahmaiva bhavati
The knower of Brahman is Brahman itself.
—Muṇdaka Upanishad 3.2.9
Ekam eva dvitīyam
One Reality without a second
—Chhāndogya Upanishad 6.2.1
Mantra Brāhmaṇayor-Veda nāmadheyam
Mantra and brahmana together constitute Veda.
—Āpastamba Shrauta Sūtram 24.1.31
Pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idam
That is full, this is full. From fullness, fullness comes out. Taking fullness from fullness, what remains is fullness.
Introductory verse for Upanishads of Shukla Yajur-Veda
Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi
I am Totality
—Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 1.4.10
Tat tvam asi
Thou art that.
—Chhāndogya Upanishad 6.11
Ānandāddhyeva verse
Out of bliss these beings are born,
In bliss they are sustained,
And to bliss they go and merge again.
— Taittirīya Upanishad 3.6.1
Ānandamayo ’bhyāsāt
Bliss becomes blissful through practice.
—Brahma sutra 1.1.12
Asato mā sad gamaya verse
From non-existence lead us to existence.
From darkness lead us to light.
From death lead us to immortality.
—Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad 1.3.28
Ātmā vāre verse
That Atma alone, that simplest form of awareness alone, is worthy of seeing, hearing, contemplating, and realizing.
— Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad 2.4.5
Bhagavad-Gītā kinchid adhītā verse
Even a little study of the Bhagavad-Gita,
Like a drop of the flow of nectar, is sufficient for enlightenment.
Shankara, Bhaja Govindam 20
Eko ‘haṁ bahu syām
I am one, may I be many.
—Upanishads
Nivartadhvam
Retire.
—Ṛk Veda 10.19.1
Ṛicho akshare verse
The verses of the Veda exist in the collapse of fullness, the kshara of ‘A’, in the transcendental field, the Self, in which reside all the devas, the impulses of creative intelligence, the laws of nature responsible for the entire manifest universe….
—Ṛk Veda 1.164.39
Satyam eva jayate
Truth alone triumphs.
—Muṇdaka Upanishad 3.1.6
Shivaṁ shāntam verse
The peaceful, the blissful, the undivided is thought to be the fourth;
that is the Self. That is to be known.
—Nṛisiṁhottaratāpanīya Upanishad 1
Vasudhaiva kutumbakam
The world is my family.
—Mahā Upanishad 6.71
Vedo 'ham
I am the Veda.
—Devī Upanishad 1
Yathā piṇde verse
Yo jāgāra verse
He who is awake, the ṛichas seek him out.
—Ṛk Veda 5.44.14
Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi
Established in Yoga (the Self), perform action.
—Bhagavad-Gītā 2.48
Tat shṛishtvā verse
Having created the creation, the Creator—Cosmic Creative Intelligence—entered into it.
—Taittirīya Upanishad 2.6.1