आत्मैवेदम् अग्र आसीत् पुरुषविधः । सो ऽनुवीक्ष्य नान्यद् आत्मनो ऽपश्यत् । सो ऽहम् अस्मीत्य् अग्रे व्याहरत् । ततो ऽहंनामाभवत् । तस्माद् अप्य् एतर्ह्य् आमन्त्रितो ऽहम् अयम् इत्य् एवाग्र उक्त्वाथान्यन् नाम प्रब्रूते यद् अस्य भवति । स यत् पूर्वो ऽस्मात् सर्वस्मात् सर्वान् पाप्मन औषत् तस्मात् पुरुषः । ओषति ह वै स तं यो ऽस्मात् पूर्वो बुभूषति य एवं वेद
ātmaivedam agra āsīt puruṣavidhaḥ | so 'nuvīkṣya nānyad ātmano 'paśyat | so 'ham asmīty agre vyāharat | tato 'haṃnāmābhavat | tasmād apy etarhy āmantrito 'ham ayam ity evāgra uktvāthānyan nāma prabrūte yad asya bhavati | sa yat pūrvo 'smāt sarvasmāt sarvān pāpmana auṣat tasmāt puruṣaḥ | oṣati ha vai sa taṃ yo 'smāt pūrvo bubhūṣati ya evaṃ veda
Devanagari rendered by HREEM from the edition's roman (IAST) text; the IAST is the edition's own.
In the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape of a person (purusha). He looking round saw nothing but his Self. He first said, ‘This is I;’ therefore he became I by name. Therefore even now, if a man is asked, he first says, ‘ This is / and then pronounces the other name which he may have. And because before (pftrva) all this, he (the Self) burnt down (ush) all evils, therefore he was a person (pur-usha). Verily he who knows this, burns down every one who tries to be before him.
Translated by F. Max MüllerFrom an unproofread scan of the printed edition; spelling and line breaks may carry OCR errors.