Upanishads · Kaṭha 4.7
॥
Devanāgarī
या प्राणेन संभवति अदितिर् देवतामयी ।
गुहां प्रविश्य तिष्ठन्तीं या भूतेभिर् व्यजायत ॥
एतद् वै तत्
Transliteration (IAST)
yā prāṇena saṃbhavati aditir devatāmayī /
guhāṃ praviśya tiṣṭhantīṃ yā bhūtebhir vyajāyata //
etad vai tat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
याyāwhich; that one
प्राणेनprāṇenathrough prāṇa; by the vital breath
संभवतिsaṃbhavaticomes into being (sam-√bhū); is born; is manifested
अदितिःaditiḥAditi ('the Boundless', mother of the gods); the Illimitable; Unboundedness
देवतामयीdevatāmayīcontaining the deities (devatā-mayī); composed of the gods; full of divinities
गुहाम्guhāminto the cave; into the heart
प्रविश्यpraviśyahaving entered; having penetrated
तिष्ठन्तीम्tiṣṭhantīmabiding; standing
याyāwhich; that one
भूतेभिःbhūtebhiḥwith the beings; out of the beings
व्यजायतvyajāyatawas born (vi-√jan); arose; came to birth together
एतत्etatthis; she
वैvaiverily; indeed
तत्tatthat; That
Translation
[And she who] comes into being together with prāṇa — Aditi, containing the deities — having entered the secret place [of the heart], abides [there], born together with the beings. This, truly, is That.
Version
bf1c12196d1e · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The feminine face of the same mystery. Aditi — "the Boundless" (a-diti — "unboundedness"), the mother of the gods of the Vedic hymns, here devatāmayī, "composed of the deities", containing all the powers: a living boundlessness in which the gods are as sparks in a flame. yā prāṇena sambhavati — "who comes into being with prāṇa": she is manifested together with the breath of life, she is the very vitality of life.
And again the same gesture as in the preceding verse: guhāṁ praviśya tiṣṭhantīm — "having entered the secret place, she abides": the Boundless is contained in a heart; yā bhūtebhir vyajāyata — "born together with the beings": with every being that is born she too is born — life enters the world not in portions but whole, in each.
The pair of verses 77–78 is a double portrait: the First-born looking out through the beings, and the Boundless being born along with them. Masculine and feminine, witness and power, puruṣa and prakṛti in her divine source — both in the one cave of the heart, and of both there is one refrain: this is That. The fullness of the Highest is not docked to a single pole; and the Upaniṣad teaches us to seek Him not in the sky nor in the elements but in the secret place where all this comes together.