---
type: Reference
bundle: upanishadic-core
id: brhadaranyaka-upanishad
title: "Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad"
description: "Oldest and largest principal Upanishad (Shukla Yajur Veda); source of aham brahmasmi and neti neti."
tradition: Śukla Yajurveda (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa)
language: Sanskrit
approximate_date: "c. 700–500 BCE (among the oldest Upaniṣads)"
key_concepts_in_bundle: [aham-brahmasmi, shravana, manana, nididhyasana, neti-neti, antaryamin, sakshin]
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्

The largest of the major Upaniṣads. Contains the Yājñavalkya dialogues — the most philosophically dense material in the Upaniṣadic corpus. Associated with the Śukla Yajurveda; forms the concluding portion of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa. Source of the Yajurvedic Mahāvākya (Aham Brahmāsmi) and of the Śravaṇa-Manana-Nididhyāsana teaching.

## Key Passages for Bundle Concepts

| Passage | Concept | Content |
|---------|---------|---------|
| BU 1.4.10 | Aham Brahmāsmi | "Aham brahmāsmi — In the beginning this [universe] was the Ātman alone... He who knows 'I am Brahman' becomes all this" |
| BU 2.3.6 | Neti Neti | "neti neti — not this, not this" — the description of Brahman via negation |
| BU 2.4.5 | Śravaṇa-Manana-Nididhyāsana | Yājñavalkya to Maitreyī: "ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ" |
| BU 3.7.1–23 | Antaryāmin | The inner controller passage; 18-entity formula |
| BU 3.7.23 | Sākṣin (proto) | "He who is in consciousness, within consciousness, whom consciousness does not know" |
| BU 3.9.26 | Neti Neti | Third appearance: Brahman described exhaustively through negation |
| BU 4.2.4 | Neti Neti | Second appearance: the Ātman in dream is described through Neti Neti |
| BU 4.4.6 | Videhamukti / Jīvanmukti | "brahmaiva san brahmāpyeti" — being Brahman, one goes to Brahman |
| BU 4.4.22 | Nirguṇa Brahman | "vijñātaraṃ are kena vijānīyāt" — by what would you know the knower? |

## The Yājñavalkya Dialogues

Chapters 3–4 contain extended dialogues between Yājñavalkya and various interlocutors (Gārgī, Maitreyī, Uddālaka, King Janaka). These constitute the most important philosophical teaching in the Upaniṣadic corpus for Advaita Vedānta. Śaṅkara's commentary on the BU is among his most important works.

## BU 2.4.5 — Full Text of the Śravaṇa Teaching

*ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ* — "The Ātman must be seen, heard about, reflected upon, and deeply contemplated." This single verse establishes the three-stage Vedāntic method. The context: Yājñavalkya is about to leave his household; Maitreyī asks whether wealth can give immortality. He responds that only knowledge of the Ātman gives immortality — and the method for that knowledge is these three stages.

## Recommended Editions

- Mādhavānanda translation (Advaita Ashrama)
- Olivelle translation (Oxford World's Classics — scholarly, with historical context)
- Śaṅkara Bhāṣya translation by Swami Gambhīrānanda (Advaita Ashrama)
