Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 2.2.9
॥
Devanāgarī
हिरण्मये परे कोशे विरजं ब्रह्म निष्कलम् ।
तत् शुभ्रं ज्योतिषां ज्योतिः तत् यत् आत्मविदः विदुः ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
hiraṇmaye pare kośe virajaṃ brahma niṣkalam |
tat śubhraṃ jyotiṣāṃ jyotiḥ tat yat ātmavidaḥ viduḥ ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
हिरण्मयेhiraṇmayein the golden (hiraṇ-maya); the gold-hued; the gold-woven
परेparein the highest; the transcendent
कोशेkośein the vessel (kośa — 'casket, sheath'); in the treasury; in the encasing sheath
विरजम्virajamthe dustless (vi-rajas); free of passion; unsullied
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the Absolute
निष्कलम्niṣkalamindivisible (niṣ-kala — 'without parts'); whole; without portions
तत्tatthat; he
शुभ्रम्śubhrampure; radiant
ज्योतिषाम्jyotiṣāmof the lights (jyotis, genitive plural); of all the luminaries; of the radiances
ज्योतिःjyotiḥlight (jyotis); a luminary; the radiance
तत् यत्tat yatthat which; precisely this
आत्मविदःātmavidaḥthe knowers of the Ātman (ātma-vid); those who have realised the Ātman; the ātma-vids
विदुःviduḥthey know; they realise
Translation
In the supreme golden vessel is Brahman, dustless, indivisible. He is resplendent, the light of lights; Him the knowers of the Ātman know.
Version
810c86979413 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
hiraṇmaye pare kośe — "in the golden supreme vessel": kośa is a casket, a sheath, a scabbard: a treasure is kept in a case — Brahman is concealed in a golden covering. The gold here has two senses: a shining sphere of purest sattva, the inner sanctuary of the heart — and yet a kośa, a covering: that very "golden vessel" with which in the Īśa Upaniṣad (mantra 15) "the face of Truth is covered": even radiance is still a sheath of the Radiant.
virajam brahma niṣkalam — "dustless, indivisible Brahman": not a speck of passion, not a line of division. tac chubhraṁ jyotiṣāṁ jyotiḥ — "He is resplendent, the light of lights": a formula that has absorbed the whole theology of light: not "the brightest of lights" but the light of the lights themselves — that by which the shining ones shine (verse 42 will now unfold this in triumph).
tad yad ātma-vido viduḥ — "Him the knowers of the Ātman know": a modest ending with a bottomless sense: the light of lights is known — it is no hypothesis, no limit of dreaming: there are knowers. The Upaniṣad always leans on witnesses: ātma-vidaḥ — those who have gone through (the teachers of the chain of 1.1.1–2) — and their knowledge attests the path for all who walk it.