Upanishads · Kaṭha 3.11
॥
Devanāgarī
महतः परम् अव्यक्तम् अव्यक्तात् पुरुषः परः ।
पुरुशान् न परं किंचित् सा काष्ठा सा परा गतिः
Transliteration (IAST)
mahataḥ param avyaktam avyaktāt puruṣaḥ paraḥ /
puruśān na paraṃ kiṃcit sā kāṣṭhā sā parā gatiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
महतःmahataḥhigher than the great; beyond the mahat
परम्paramhigher; surpassing
अव्यक्तम्avyaktamthe unmanifest (a-vyakta); the unmanifest primal nature; the latent
अव्यक्तात्avyaktāthigher than the unmanifest; beyond the avyakta
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥthe Puruṣa (puruṣa — 'the Person, the Spirit'); the Supreme Person; the Spirit
परःparaḥhigher; surpasses
पुरुषान्puruṣānhigher than the Puruṣa; other than the Puruṣa; beyond the Puruṣa
नnanot; no
परम्paramof the highest; surpassing
किंचित्kiṃcitnothing; anything
साsāthis; that one
काष्ठाkāṣṭhāthe summit (kāṣṭhā — 'the limit, the goal-post'); the utmost point; the limit
साsāthis; that one
पराparāthe higher; the transcendent
गतिःgatiḥthe way and refuge (gati); the goal of movement; the issue
Translation
Higher than the great is the unmanifest, higher than the unmanifest is the Puruṣa. But higher than the Puruṣa there is nothing: that is the summit, that the supreme way.
Version
db0c5718f7cc · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The ladder is built up to the sky. mahataḥ param avyaktam — "higher than the great is the unmanifest": avyakta, the latent primal nature, the seed of all forms before they sprout. avyaktāt puruṣaḥ paraḥ — "higher than the unmanifest is the Puruṣa": a Face above the faceless, Spirit above matter even in its unmanifest state. And the keystone: puruṣān na paraṁ kiñcit — "higher than the Puruṣa there is nothing"; sā kāṣṭhā — "that is the summit" (kāṣṭhā — the utmost point, the goal-post of a race), sā parā gatiḥ — "that is the supreme way and refuge".
The hierarchy is built with intent, and its point is directed against two halts halfway. The first: to take the avyakta for the highest — the impersonal unmanifest, the silence of dissolution; the Upaniṣad sets the Puruṣa above it: the impersonal is the penultimate rung, not the throne. The second: to look for something still above the Person — some super-void; this is cut off outright: higher than He there is nothing.
The Gītā (8.20–22) unfolds this verse: "higher than that unmanifest is another, eternal unmanifest Being that does not perish when all perishes… that is My supreme abode; and that Puruṣa, O Pārtha, is attainable by undivided devotion (bhaktyā… ananyayā)." The summit of the ladder has coincided with the abode of Viṣṇu of verse 63 — as it must: truth has one address.