Upanishads · Kaṭha 5.12
॥
Devanāgarī
एको वशी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा एकं रूपं बहुधा यः करोति ।
तम् आत्मस्थं ये ऽनुपश्यन्ति धीरास् तेषां सुखं शाश्वतं नेतरेषाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
eko vaśī sarvabhūtāntarātmā ekaṃ rūpaṃ bahudhā yaḥ karoti /
tam ātmasthaṃ ye 'nupaśyanti dhīrās teṣāṃ sukhaṃ śāśvataṃ netareṣām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एकःekaḥone; single
वशीvaśīthe Ruler (vaśin — 'he who has all in his will'); the Sovereign; the Governing
सर्वभूतान्तरात्माsarvabhūtāntarātmāthe inner Ātman of all beings; the soul within all
एकम्ekamone; a single
रूपम्rūpamthe form; nature
बहुधाbahudhāin many ways (bahudhā — 'manifoldly'); in plenty; variously
यःyaḥwhich; who
करोतिkarotimakes; he manifests
तम्tamit; that one
आत्मस्थम्ātmasthamabiding in themselves (ātma-stha); standing in the heart; existing within
येyethose who; they who
अनुपश्यन्तिanupaśyantithey contemplate; they see
धीराःdhīrāḥthe wise; the steadfast
तेषाम्teṣāmof them; for them
सुखम्sukhamhappiness; bliss
शाश्वतम्śāśvatamthe everlasting (śāśvata); the imperishable; the everlasting
नnanot; no
इतरेषाम्itareṣāmto others; to the rest; to the others
Translation
The one Ruler, the inner Ātman of all beings, who makes His one form manifold — to the wise who behold Him as abiding in themselves belongs everlasting happiness, and to no others.
Version
2277de3d2fe6 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
eko vaśī — "the one Ruler": vaśin — "he who has all in his will": not an indifferent witness but the Governor; sarva-bhūta-antarātmā — the inner Ātman of all; ekaṁ rūpaṁ bahudhā yaḥ karoti — "who makes his one form manifold": all the variety of the world is His one form unfolded into countlessness, as one ray into a rainbow.
tam ātmasthaṁ ye 'nupaśyanti dhīrāḥ — "the wise who behold Him abiding in themselves": ātma-stha — "standing in [their] own heart": not in a temple only, not in the sky only — in oneself; and they behold anu-, "following" the instruction, with a sight learned from those who see. teṣāṁ sukhaṁ śāśvatam netareṣām — "to them everlasting happiness, and not to others". The word netareṣām sounds severe, but it is no sentence of election, only a plain topology: everlasting happiness can come only from the Everlasting; those who seek it in the non-everlasting are not punished — they are simply searching where it does not lie.
This verse with its twin (99) is the summit of the whole Kaṭha; the Śvetāśvatara (6.12–13) repeats them word for word, and the Gītā unfolds them into whole chapters. The formula "one among many, granting to them" is a compressed confession of a personal God: not "all is one" but One in all — Ruler, Giver, the One who abides beside.