आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेनमाश्चर्यवद्वदति तथैव चान्यः ।आश्चर्यवच्चैनमन्यः शृणोति श्रुत्वाप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित् ॥
āścaryavat paśyati kaścid enam āścaryavad vadati tathaiva cānyaḥ |āścaryavac cainam anyaḥ śṛṇoti śrutvāpy enaṃ veda na caiva kaścit ||
- आश्चर्यवत् · āścaryavat
- as a wonder, wondrously
- पश्यति · paśyati
- sees
- कश्चित् · kaścit
- someone
- एनम् · enam
- this (self)
- आश्चर्यवत् · āścaryavat
- as a wonder
- वदति · vadati
- speaks of
- तथा · tathā
- so
- एव · eva
- indeed
- च · ca
- and
- अन्यः · anyaḥ
- another
- आश्चर्यवत् · āścaryavat
- as a wonder
- च · ca
- and
- एनम् · enam
- of this
- अन्यः · anyaḥ
- another
- शृणोति · śṛṇoti
- hears
- श्रुत्वा · śrutvā
- having heard
- अपि · api
- even
- एनम् · enam
- this
- वेद · veda
- knows
- न · na
- not
- च · ca
- and
- एव · eva
- indeed
- कश्चित् · kaścit
- anyone
“One sees it as a wonder, another speaks of it as a wonder, another hears of it as a wonder — yet even hearing it, no one understands it.”
— Original plain-language translation
After twenty verses of confident assertion, a sudden humility: the self astonishes seer, speaker, and hearer alike — and escapes all three. The teaching admits its own limit: truth about the self is finally not transferred but realized.
— Reader's notes (original)