Upanishads · Kaṭha 4.13
॥
Devanāgarī
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रः पुरुषो ज्योतिर् इव अधूमकः ।
ईशानो भूतभव्यस्य स एवाद्य स उ श्वः ॥
एतद् वै तत्
Transliteration (IAST)
aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣo jyotir iva adhūmakaḥ /
īśāno bhūtabhavyasya sa evādya sa u śvaḥ //
etad vai tat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रःaṅguṣṭhamātraḥof the size of a thumb; a thumb's measure
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥPuruṣa; the inner person
ज्योतिःjyotiḥlight (jyotis); flame; the radiance
इवivahow; as it were
अधूमकःadhūmakaḥsmokeless (a-dhūmaka); without smoke; a pure [flame]
ईशानःīśānaḥthe lord; the sovereign
भूतभव्यस्यbhūtabhavyasyaof past and future; of what was and what will be
सःsaḥhe; He himself
एवevaindeed; truly
अद्यadyatoday; now; this very day
सःsaḥhe; He himself
उusurely; also
श्वःśvaḥtomorrow; in the morning; on the day to come
एतत्etatthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
तत्tatthat; That
Translation
The Puruṣa of a thumb's size is like a smokeless flame, the Lord of what has been and what shall be. He is today, and He is tomorrow. This, truly, is That.
Version
c48f2bfbf6df · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second verse on the Puruṣa in the heart adds an image and a time. jyotir ivādhūmakaḥ — "like a light without smoke": a flame with no soot mixed into it — consciousness without an admixture of matter, a radiance without the shadow of passion and bewilderment. Every inner light of ours smokes — with moods, weariness, egoity; in the core of the heart there burns a smokeless one.
sa evādya sa u śvaḥ — "He is today, and He is tomorrow": the shortest formula of eternity in the Upaniṣads. Not an abstract "outside time" but something plain and consoling: He who is with you now will be the same tomorrow — and in that "tomorrow" which is called death, and in all the tomorrows beyond it. The Lord of what has been and what shall be is not replaced along with the days; everything changes — He is the same, and therefore in a world of change there is something to hold on to.
The pair of verses 83–84 is the heart of the fourth vallī: the sought-for "That" has been found not in a far heaven but in the middle of the breast, small in measure, bright without smoke, unchanging through the days. One danger remains — to scatter this vision again into a polytheism of separate things; of that, the next two verses about water on the mountains and water in water.