Upanishads · Kaṭha 5.10
॥
Devanāgarī
वायुर् यथैको भुवनं प्रविष्टो रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपो बभूव ।
एकस् तथा सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपो बहिश् च
Transliteration (IAST)
vāyur yathaiko bhuvanaṃ praviṣṭo rūpaṃ rūpaṃ pratirūpo babhūva /
ekas tathā sarvabhūtāntarātmā rūpaṃ rūpaṃ pratirūpo bahiś ca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind; the air
यथाyathāhow; like
एकःekaḥone; single
भुवनम्bhuvanamthe world; the existent
प्रविष्टःpraviṣṭaḥhaving entered (pra-√viś); having entered; having stepped in
रूपम्rūpamthe form; form
रूपम्rūpamevery form; form after form
प्रतिरूपःpratirūpaḥconformed to the form; like the image
बभूवbabhūvahe became (perfect of √bhū); was made; addressed
एकःekaḥone; single
तथाtathāthus; like
सर्वभूतान्तरात्माsarvabhūtāntarātmāthe inner Ātman of all beings; the soul within all
रूपम्rūpamthe form; form
रूपम्rūpamevery form; form after form
प्रतिरूपःpratirūpaḥconformed to the form; like the image
बहिःbahiḥoutside; beyond
चcaand; as well as
Translation
As one wind, having entered the world, becomes conformed to form after form, so the one inner Ātman of all beings becomes conformed to form after form — and abides outside [them].
Version
080b363700c6 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second face of the same truth: vāyur yathaikaḥ — "as one wind". One air — but in a flute it is a song, in a storm a howl, in the breast a breath, in a sail a voyage: the shape of the vessel gives shape to the movement without changing the nature of what blows. So the One, entering the countless vessels of beings, sounds in each in its own way — remaining Himself and remaining outside.
The choice of the second image is not accidental: fire is light and heat (consciousness), wind is movement and breath (life). The two primal elements of inner experience: all that shines and knows in me is His conformity to fire; all that moves and lives in me is His conformity to wind. The Upaniṣad seems to run through the modes: by whatever channel you seek Him in yourself — by the light of thought or by the current of life — you find Him having taken your own form.
And both times — bahiś ca: outside. The repetition of this "outside" prepares the third and boldest image: the sun, which sees everything without being soiled by anything visible.