Upanishads · 1.15
॥
Devanāgarī
हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् ।
तत् त्वं पूषन्न् अपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टये
Transliteration (IAST)
hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham |
tat tvaṃ pūṣann apāvṛṇu satyadharmāya dṛṣṭaye
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
हिरण्मयेनhiraṇmayenawith a golden; with a gold-gleaming; woven of golden light
पात्रेणpātreṇavessel; lid, covering; bowl
सत्यस्यsatyasyaof the Truth; of the real; of reality
आपिहितम्āpihitamis covered (api-√dhā — 'to cover over'); is hidden; is screened
मुखम्mukhamthe face; the countenance; the mouth
तत्tatit; that; this covering
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself; it is you who
पूषन्pūṣanO Pūṣan ('the Nourisher' — a name of the sun); O Feeder; O Protector
अपावृणुapāvṛṇuuncover (apa-√vṛ — 'to remove a covering'); take it away; lay it open
सत्यधर्मायsatyadharmāyafor one whose dharma is truth; for one faithful to truth; for one who lives by the law of truth
दृष्टयेdṛṣṭayefor the seeing; that I may behold; for the sake of beholding
Translation
With a golden vessel is the face of Truth covered. Uncover it, O Pūṣan, for me whose dharma is truth, that I may see.
Version
1b3921fc12a2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:17:19 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The turning point of the whole Upaniṣad: reasoning becomes prayer, the third person becomes the second. hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṁ mukham — "with a golden vessel is the face of Truth covered". An image of astonishing boldness: what hides the Truth is not darkness — darkness was left behind in the earlier mantras — but light; not ugliness, but gold. The blinding radiance of the Absolute, that very unmanifest towards which the worshippers of asambhūti strive, is here called a covering (pātra — a lid, a vessel), and behind it is a mukham, a face. Truth has a countenance; the boundless light is only a veil, a radiance streaming from Him.
tat tvaṁ pūṣann apāvṛṇu — "do you, O Pūṣan, uncover it" (apa-√vṛ — "to remove a covering"). Pūṣan, "the Nourisher", is a name of the sun, yet the suppliant, praying through the sun, addresses its Lord: withdraw your own radiance, let me see You. The ground of the request is satya-dharmāya dṛṣṭaye: "for the sake of seeing — to one whose dharma is truth". To behold the face is granted not to the curious but to him who has made truth the law of his life; the vision is not an experience won by technique but the answer of a Person to faithfulness.
Here the outcome of the triad 12–14 becomes finally clear: the unmanifest radiance is real, yet it is not the final depth; the final depth is He whose radiance it is. The very prayer "uncover" confesses what proud knowledge does not admit: only He who is hidden behind the veil can lift it. And the immortality "tasted" in mantras 11 and 14 receives here its true name — to see Him face to face.