Upanishads · Kaṭha 5.13
॥
Devanāgarī
नित्यो ऽनित्यानां चेतनश् चेतनानाम् एको बहूनां यो विदधाति कामान् ।
तम् आत्मस्थं ये ऽनुपश्यन्ति धीरास् तेषं शान्तिः शाश्वती नेतरेषाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
nityo 'nityānāṃ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṃ yo vidadhāti kāmān /
tam ātmasthaṃ ye 'nupaśyanti dhīrās teṣaṃ śāntiḥ śāśvatī netareṣām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नित्यःnityaḥthe Eternal (nitya); the Imperishable; the Constant
अनित्यानाम्anityānāmamong the non-eternal; [or] among the eternal [souls] (nityānām); among transient [forms]; among the many eternal ones
चेतनःcetanaḥthe Conscious One (cetana); the Living Consciousness; the Knowing One
चेतनानाम्cetanānāmamong the conscious; among living consciousnesses; among the ensouled
एकःekaḥone; single
बहूनाम्bahūnāmmany; for the many
यःyaḥwhich; who
विदधातिvidadhātihe fulfils, apportions (vi-√dhā); he bestows; he ordains
कामान्kāmāndesires; the needs
तम्tamit; that one
आत्मस्थम्ātmasthamabiding in oneself; dwelling in the heart
येyethose who; they who
अनुपश्यन्तिanupaśyantithey contemplate; they see
धीराःdhīrāḥthe wise; the steadfast
तेषाम्teṣāmof them; for them
शान्तिःśāntiḥpeace, rest (śānti); tranquillity; stillness
शाश्वतीśāśvatīeverlasting (śāśvatī); imperishable; everlasting
नnanot; no
इतरेषाम्itareṣāmfor others; for the rest
Translation
The Eternal among the eternal, the Conscious among the conscious, the One among many, who fulfils [their] desires — to the wise who behold Him as abiding in themselves belongs everlasting peace, and to no others.
Version
76563489b0e2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
nityo 'nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām — the verse most often cited by the whole Vedānta of devotion. The usual reading of the first pair is "the Eternal among the non-eternal"; but beside the second pair — cetanaś cetanānām, "the Conscious among the conscious" — a deeper reading opens: nityo nityānām — "the Eternal among the eternal": there are many eternals — souls, indestructible sparks of consciousness (verse 47 has already said: the soul is not born and does not die), and there is One Eternal among them, distinct in station: eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān — "the One among many, who apportions to them what they desire".
Here is the final map of reality according to the Kaṭha: neither one faceless sea nor two camps of "God and world", but the One and the many — of one nature in consciousness and eternity, yet incommensurable in ministry: the many are in need — the One fulfils; the many receive — the One gives. Vidadhāti — "he apportions, he ordains": He does not swallow up His own but cares for them; the bond of the One and the many is not a dissolution but a relation: care, giving — and, at its limit, love.
teṣāṁ śāntiḥ śāśvatī — "to them everlasting peace": the twin verse had "happiness", here it is "peace", śānti: fullness and rest as the double fruit of one vision. And the condition is the same: ātma-stham anupaśyanti — to see Him within oneself, nearer than oneself. Eternal life according to the Upaniṣad is not the merging of a drop with the ocean but the eternal meeting of an eternal with the Eternal: of a small thirst with an inexhaustible Source.