Aitareya Upanishad

The Aitareya Upanishad is a short prose text from the Aitareya Aranyaka in the Rig Veda. It explains the symbolic meaning of the rituals described in the previous chapters of the Aranyaka, and contains particularly famous aphorisms (maha vakya) like prajnanam brahma - "Brahman is perfect knowledge". Aitareya Upanishad discusses the philosophy of the individual and the self, the theory of reincarnation, and the relationship between individual consciousness and the universal consciousness.

Aitareya 2.1.4

This self of his (viz. the son) is substituted (by the father) for the performance of virtuous deeds. Then this other self of his (that is the father of the son), having got his duties ended and having advanced in age, departs. As soon as he departs, he takes birth again. That is his (1.e. the son's) third birth.



  • so'syāyamātmā —

  • puṇyebhyaḥ —

  • karmabhyaḥ —

  • pratidhīyate —

  • athāsyāyāmitara —

  • ātmā —

  • kṛtakṛtyo —

  • vayogataḥ —

  • praiti —

  • sa —

  • itaḥ —

  • prayanneva —

  • punarjāyate —

  • tadasya —

  • tṛtīyaṃ —

  • janma —

Aitareya Upanishad