Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 3.1.7
॥
Devanāgarī
बृहत् च तत् दिव्यम् अचिन्त्यरूपं सूक्ष्मात् च तत् सूक्ष्मतरं विभाति ।
दूरात् सुदूरे तत् इह अन्तिके च पश्यत्सु इह एव निहितं गुहायाम् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
bṛhat ca tat divyam acintyarūpaṃ sūkṣmāt ca tat sūkṣmataraṃ vibhāti |
dūrāt sudūre tat iha antike ca paśyatsu iha eva nihitaṃ guhāyām ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बृहत् चbṛhat cavast (bṛhat — the root of the word 'Brahman'); immeasurable; immense
तत्tatthat; it
दिव्यम्divyamdivine; shining
अचिन्त्यरूपम्acintyarūpamof inconceivable form (acintya-rūpa); with a form beyond comprehension; whose shape is beyond thought
सूक्ष्मात् चsūkṣmāt caand than the subtle; compared with the subtle
तत्tatthat; it
सूक्ष्मतरम्sūkṣmataramsubtler (sūkṣma-tara); finer; more subtle
विभातिvibhātiis radiant; is manifested
दूरात्dūrātthan the distant; further off
सुदूरेsudūrefurther than the far (su-dūra); in the remotest distance; very far away
तत्tatthat; it
इहihahere; in this world
अन्तिके चantike caand near at hand (antika); and close by; and immediately present
पश्यत्सुpaśyatsufor those who see (from √paś); for the sighted; with the contemplative
इह एवiha evahere indeed; right here
निहितम्nihitamis set; is hidden
गुहायाम्guhāyāmin the cave of the heart; in the depth
Translation
Great is That and divine, its form is inconceivable; subtler than the subtle It shines. Further than the far — and here too, close at hand; for those who see, It is hidden right here, in the secret place [of the heart].
Version
4576d15e772d · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A see-saw of a verse, swinging the mind past its own measures. bṛhac ca tad divyam — "great is That and divine" (bṛhat is the very root of the word "Brahman": immeasurably expanding); acintya-rūpam — "of inconceivable form": He has a rūpa — and it is a-cintya, beyond thought (not "there is no form" but "the form cannot be contained" — a crucial distinction!); sūkṣmāc ca tat sūkṣmataraṁ vibhāti — "subtler than the subtle It shines".
dūrāt sudūre tat ihāntike ca — "further than the far — and here, close at hand": the Īśa Upaniṣad swung the same see-saw ("far away — and near"); and the resolution is of the same kind: paśyatsv ihaiva nihitaṁ guhāyām — "for those who see, hidden right here, in the secret place": the distance to Him is measured not in leagues but in sightedness: for one who does not see He is further than the galaxies, for one who sees, beneath his own heart.
So the Muṇḍaka gathers its constant words — guhā, nihitam — into a last pattern: the whole voyage after the Transcendent ends in the depth of a single heart. Not because He is "merely inside us" — but because the Omnipresent has nowhere nearer to be than at the centre of one who loves; the other distances are the same "here", but without eyes.