Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 2.1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
अग्निः मूर्धा चक्षुषी चन्द्रसूर्यौ दिशः श्रोत्रे वाक् विवृताः च वेदाः ।
वायुः प्राणः हृदयं विश्वम् अस्य पद्भ्यां पृथिवी हि एष सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
agniḥ mūrdhā cakṣuṣī candrasūryau diśaḥ śrotre vāk vivṛtāḥ ca vedāḥ |
vāyuḥ prāṇaḥ hṛdayaṃ viśvam asya padbhyāṃ pṛthivī hi eṣa sarvabhūtāntarātmā ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
मूर्धाmūrdhāthe head (mūrdhan); the head; the crown
चक्षुषीcakṣuṣīthe two eyes (cakṣus, dual); the two eyes; the pair of eyes
चन्द्रसूर्यौcandrasūryaumoon and sun (candra-sūrya); the moon and the sun; the two luminaries
दिशःdiśaḥthe quarters (diś); the directions; the regions of the sky
श्रोत्रेśrotrethe two ears; the two ears
वाक्vākspeech; the word
विवृताःvivṛtāḥdisclosed (vi-√vṛ); unfolded; opened out
चcaand; as well as
वेदाःvedāḥthe Vedas; the sacred knowledges
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind; the air
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; breath
हृदयम्hṛdayamthe heart; the core
विश्वम्viśvamthe universe; all
अस्यasyaHis; in Him
पद्भ्याम्padbhyāmout of the feet (pad, dual instrumental); from [His] feet; by the feet
पृथिवीpṛthivīthe earth; Pṛthivī
हिhiindeed; indeed
एषःeṣaḥHe; this
सर्वभूतान्तरात्माsarvabhūtāntarātmāthe inner Ātman of all beings; the soul within all that lives
Translation
Fire is His head, His eyes the moon and the sun, the quarters His ears, the disclosed Vedas His speech, the wind His breath, the universe His heart; from His feet is the earth: for He is the inner Ātman of all beings.
Version
29bd4b99f32f · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The virāṭ-rūpa — the universe as the body of the Puruṣa. agnir mūrdhā — "fire is the head": the blazing summit of the world; cakṣuṣī candra-sūryau — "the eyes are the moon and the sun": two eyes, of night and of day, with which He gazes — and by which the world is lit (gaze and light are one); diśaḥ śrotre — "the quarters are the ears": all directions hear; vāg vivṛtāś ca vedāḥ — "speech is the disclosed Vedas": when He speaks, that is the śruti; vāyuḥ prāṇaḥ — the wind is the breath; hṛdayaṁ viśvam — "the heart is the universe": everything that is is contained in His heart (not under His heel!); padbhyāṁ pṛthivī — from the feet, the earth.
Such a vision is not "primitive anthropomorphism" but its opposite: not God after the image of man, but the cosmos after the image of God; the contemplative is given a ladder: looking at fire, sun, sky — to see the limbs of one Body. The Gītā (chapter 11) will show this same Viśvarūpa to Arjuna with his own eyes; the Bhāgavatam (2.1) will prescribe it as the first step of contemplation for a mind not yet strong.
The clasp of the verse: hy eṣa sarva-bhūtāntarātmā — "for He is the inner Ātman of all beings": He whose body is the universe is at the same time the hidden Spirit in every creature. The greatest and the deepest are one and the same; the cosmos and the heart are two magnitudes of one presence.