Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 2.1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
पुरुषः एव इदं विश्वं कर्म तपः ब्रह्म पर-अमृतम् ।
एतत् यः वेद निहितं गुहायां सः अविद्याग्रन्थिं विकिरति इह सोम्य ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
puruṣaḥ eva idaṃ viśvaṃ karma tapaḥ brahma para-amṛtam |
etat yaḥ veda nihitaṃ guhāyāṃ saḥ avidyāgranthiṃ vikirati iha somya ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुरुषः एवpuruṣaḥ evathe Puruṣa verily (puruṣa eva); the Puruṣa precisely; the Puruṣa Himself
इदम् विश्वम्idam viśvamall this (idaṁ viśvam); this whole universe; this whole world
कर्मkarmaaction; karma
तपःtapaḥasceticism; tapas
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the sacred
पर-अमृतम्para-amṛtamthe supreme immortality (para-amṛta); the highest amṛta; the transcendent immortal
एतत्etatthis; it
यःyaḥwho; the one who
वेदvedaknows; realises
निहितम्nihitamthe concealed; the placed
गुहायाम्guhāyāmin the cave of the heart; in the depth
सःsaḥhe; such
अविद्याग्रन्थिंavidyāgranthiṃthe knot of ignorance (avidyā-granthi); the tangle of unknowing; the knot of avidyā
विकिरतिvikiraticuts asunder, scatters (vi-√kṝ — 'to disperse'); dispels; tears apart
इहihahere; in this life
सोम्यsomyaO gentle one; dear one
Translation
The Puruṣa is verily all this: action [and] austerity, Brahman [and] the highest immortality. He who knows Him hidden in the secret place [of the heart] — he, even here, O dear one, cuts asunder the knot of ignorance.
Version
a7375624d465 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The climax of the second muṇḍaka: puruṣa evedaṁ viśvam — "the Puruṣa is all this": karma — every deed, tapaḥ — every austerity, brahma — Brahman [manifest] itself, parāmṛtam — the highest immortality. After six verses of inventory ("from Him this, from Him that") comes the summary formula: not only is everything from Him — everything is He: as a web is not only "from the spider" but a strand of its very substance.
And at once the transition from cosmology to salvation: etad yo veda nihitaṁ guhāyām — "he who knows Him hidden in the secret place": the Universal need not be searched for through the universe — He is in the cave of the heart (nihitaṁ guhāyām — a formula shared with the Kaṭha); so 'vidyā-granthiṁ vikiratīha somya — "he cuts asunder the knot of ignorance — here, O dear one". avidyā-granthi is the knot of unknowing: that very cord-tangle of "I am the body, mine is the world" which the Kaṭha (verse 116) bade us cut; vikirati — "scatters, blows apart": the knot is not untied thread by thread — it flies apart in the flash of recognition.
iha — "here": not after death, not in other worlds — in this life. Śaunaka's answer has been given: know the Puruṣa in the heart and everything is known, for He is everything; and the knot that made you "a separate knower of separate things" will fly apart. The third section of the second muṇḍaka (the verses that follow) will give this knowledge a bow, an arrow and a target.