Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 3.2.7
॥
Devanāgarī
गताः कलाः पञ्चदश प्रतिष्ठा देवाः च सर्वे प्रतिदेवतासु ।
कर्माणि विज्ञानमयः च आत्मा परे अव्यये सर्वे एकीभवन्ति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
gatāḥ kalāḥ pañcadaśa pratiṣṭhā devāḥ ca sarve pratidevatāsu |
karmāṇi vijñānamayaḥ ca ātmā pare avyaye sarve ekībhavanti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गताःgatāḥdepart; return
कलाःkalāḥthe parts (kalā); the portions; the constituents
पञ्चदशpañcadaśafifteen (pañcadaśa); the set of fifteen; fifteen in number
प्रतिष्ठाःpratiṣṭhāḥto their bases (pratiṣṭhā); to their supports; to their own origins
देवाः चdevāḥ caand the gods; and the divine powers
सर्वेsarveall; entirely
प्रतिदेवतासुpratidevatāsuto their corresponding deities (prati-devatā); to their own patrons; to the answering devas
कर्माणिkarmāṇithe karmas; actions
विज्ञानमयः चvijñānamayaḥ caand that which consists of cognition (vijñāna-maya); and knowledge-woven; and the conscious [soul]
आत्माātmāthe Ātman; the individual self
परेparein the highest; the transcendent
अव्ययेavyayethe unchanging; the imperishable
सर्वेsarveall; entirely
एकीभवन्तिekībhavantibecome one (ekī-√bhū); are made one; merge into unity
Translation
The fifteen parts go to their foundations, and all the gods [of the senses] to their corresponding deities; but the deeds and the self that consists of knowledge — all become one in the supreme Imperishable.
Version
eeba54d06e31 · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The anatomy of the great return. gatāḥ kalāḥ pañcadaśa pratiṣṭhāḥ — "the fifteen parts go to their foundations": the fifteen kalās are the composition of the created man (the Praśna knew a sixteenth — the name): breath to the wind, moisture to the waters, heat to fire, flesh to earth: every loan goes back to its lender; devāś ca sarve pratidevatāsu — "and all the gods [of the senses] to their deities": sight to the sun, hearing to the quarters of space: the faculties are released to their patrons.
karmāṇi vijñānamayaś ca ātmā — "the deeds and the self of knowledge" — pare 'vyaye sarve ekī-bhavanti — "all become one in the supreme Imperishable": both the accumulated karmas (they have nothing left to bear fruit in) and the knowing soul itself enter into the One — ekī-bhavanti: "they become one": as rivers into the sea (the next verse will say exactly this) — the difference of the channels drowns in the oneness of the Water.
The fifteen parts have dispersed among the elements — but the soul has not dispersed: it has entered. In this lies the whole difference between the death of the bound and of the free: in the bound man the composition falls apart — and the seed flies to new soil; in the free man the composition is surrendered, the karmas are cleared, and he himself is home. What that "home" is like, the verse of the rivers will finish telling: not extinction, but the Puruṣa.