Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 2.1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् एतत् सत्यं यथा सुदीप्तात् पावकात् विस्फुलिङ्गाः सहस्रशः प्रभवन्ते सरूपाः ।
तथा अक्षरात् विविधाः सोम्य भावाः प्रजायन्ते तत्र च एव अपियन्ति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
tat etat satyaṃ yathā sudīptāt pāvakāt visphuliṅgāḥ sahasraśaḥ prabhavante sarūpāḥ |
tathā akṣarāt vividhāḥ somya bhāvāḥ prajāyante tatra ca eva apiyanti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् एतत्tat etatthis precisely; such a truth
सत्यम्satyamtruth; the genuine
यथाyathāhow; like
सुदीप्तात्sudīptātout of the brightly blazing (su-dīpta); out of what has flared up; out of the fiercely burning
पावकात्pāvakātout of the fire (pāvaka — 'the purifier'); out of the flame; out of the blaze
विस्फुलिङ्गाःvisphuliṅgāḥsparks (vi-sphuliṅga); little sparks; flying sparks
सहस्रशःsahasraśaḥby thousands (sahasraśas); a thousandfold; in many thousands
प्रभवन्तेprabhavantearise; go forth
सरूपाःsarūpāḥalike in nature (sa-rūpa — 'of the same form'); of the same nature; of one essence [with the fire]
तथाtathāthus; like
अक्षरात्akṣarātout of the Akṣara; out of the imperishable
विविधाःvividhāḥmanifold; various
सोम्यsomyaO gentle one; dear one
भावाःbhāvāḥbeings (bhāva); existences; living entities
प्रजायन्तेprajāyanteare born; arise
तत्र च एवtatra ca evaand into it again; and thither precisely
अपियन्तिapiyantithey return (api-√i); they pass [into the same]; they enter back
Translation
This is the truth: as from a blazing fire sparks are born by thousands, alike to it in nature, so from the Imperishable, O dear one, manifold beings are born — and into Him they return.
Version
25224baa517e · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second muṇḍaka opens with the words tad etat satyam — "this is the truth" — and with the first proposition of the higher science: the image of sparks. yathā sudīptāt pāvakād visphuliṅgāḥ sahasraśaḥ prabhavante — "as from a brightly blazing fire sparks issue by thousands" — sarūpāḥ — "alike [to it] in nature": the same fieriness in every spark as in the blaze. tathākṣarād vividhāḥ bhāvāḥ prajāyante — "so from the Imperishable manifold beings are born" — tatra caivāpi yanti — "and thither they also go".
The word sarūpāḥ — "of the same form" — is precious: souls are neither lumps of the Fire nor strangers to it — they are its sparks: the same luminous nature (consciousness, eternity — the Kaṭha: "the Eternal among eternals") in an incomparable measure. A spark can light a straw; the blaze warms the world; a spark that has flown off dies into the ash of forgetfulness — but, returning into the fire, flares up again. The whole destiny of the soul is in this physics: radiance near the Source, dimming far from it.
The Gītā (15.7) gives the same image in the first person: mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ — "an eternal fragment of Me has become a living being in the world of the living". Consubstantiality and difference are given at once, and neither suffers: a spark is truly fire — and never the blaze. On this balance everything that follows rests: both the nearness (we are of His kind) and the worship (He is not of our measure).