Upanishads · 1.16
॥
Devanāgarī
पूषन्न् एकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मीन् समूह तेजः ।
यत् ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत् ते पश्यामि यो ऽसाव् असौ पुरुषः सो ऽहम् अस्मि
Transliteration (IAST)
pūṣann ekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya vyūha raśmīn samūha tejaḥ |
yat te rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tat te paśyāmi yo 'sāv asau puruṣaḥ so 'ham asmi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पूषन्pūṣanO Pūṣan; O nourisher; O protector
एकर्षेekarṣeO sole seer (eka-ṛṣi); O one who alone beholds; O first among seers
यमyamaO Yama; O lord of order; O restrainer
सूर्यsūryaO Sun; O Sūrya; O radiant one
प्राजापत्यprājāpatyaO son of Prajāpati; O descendant of the lord of creatures; O offspring of Prajāpati
व्यूहvyūhadraw apart (vi-√ūh — 'to push aside'); spread them asunder; disperse
रश्मीन्raśmīnthe rays; the beams; the sunbeams
समूहsamūhagather in (sam-√ūh — 'to draw together'); draw together; withdraw
तेजःtejaḥthe light; the radiance; the blaze
यत्yatwhich; that which; the one that
तेteyour; of yours; belonging to you
रूपम्rūpamform; shape; countenance
कल्याणतमम्kalyāṇatamamthe most beautiful (superlative of kalyāṇa — 'auspicious'); all-auspicious; the loveliest
तत्tatthat; it; that very one
तेteyour; of yours; belonging to you
पश्यामिpaśyāmiI see; I behold; I would behold
यःyaḥwho; the one who; which
असौasauthat; yonder; he who abides there
असौasauthat one; that very one; the one yonder
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥPuruṣa; the Person; the Supreme Being
सःsaḥHe; that one; he himself
अहम्ahamI; my true self; I myself
अस्मिasmiam; exist; I am
Translation
O Pūṣan, sole seer, O Yama, O Sūrya, son of Prajāpati! Draw apart your rays, gather in your radiance — that I may see your most beautiful form. That Puruṣa who is yonder — He am I.
Version
590d2f28e3ec · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:17:19 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The prayer continues in the most personal mantra of the Upaniṣad. The suppliant calls: pūṣann ekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya — "O Nourisher, O sole Seer, O Ruler, O Sun, son of Prajāpati", ascending by the names of the cosmic light towards its Source — and then asks: vyūha raśmīn samūha tejaḥ — "draw apart your rays, gather in your radiance". It is the same request as in the fifteenth mantra, but nearer and more daring: yat te rūpaṁ kalyāṇatamaṁ tat te paśyāmi — "that form of yours which is loveliest of all — that is what I wish to see". kalyāṇatama is a superlative of kalyāṇa, "auspicious, beautiful": behind the withdrawn veil of light there opens not a faceless abyss but a rūpa — a form, and not a terrible one but all-auspicious and all-beautiful.
The closing words — yo 'sāv asau puruṣaḥ so 'ham asmi, "that Puruṣa who is yonder: He am I" — have for centuries been read as a formula of complete identity. But the mantra itself rebels against the effacing of the two: one cannot pray "let me see your loveliest form" and in the same breath declare oneself its sole possessor. These words are the recognition of kinship, not the seizure of a throne: "I am of the same nature as He"; the soul, a spark of light, recognises in the Puruṣa now revealed what is its own — as a drop, meeting the ocean, may rightly say "we are one water" without claiming to be the ocean.
The Seer and the Seen remain two — otherwise there would be no one to taste the bliss of the meeting towards which the whole prayer has been moving. Oneness of nature and difference of persons do not contradict each other: it is precisely their inconceivable simultaneity that makes love possible — the one thing for whose sake the golden veil is lifted at all.