Upanishads · Māṇḍūkya 6
॥
Devanāgarī
एषः सर्वेश्वर एष सर्वज्ञ एषो ऽन्तर्याम्य् एष योनिः सर्वस्य प्रभवाप्ययौ हि भूतानाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
eṣaḥ sarveśvara eṣa sarvajña eṣo 'ntaryāmy eṣa yoniḥ sarvasya prabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एषःeṣaḥthis one; he
सर्वेश्वरःsarveśvaraḥthe Lord of all (sarva-īśvara); the All-Lord; the Master of everything
एषःeṣaḥthis one; he
सर्वज्ञःsarvajñaḥthe All-knowing (sarva-jña); the Omniscient; he who knows everything
एषःeṣaḥthis one; he
अन्तर्यामीantaryāmīthe Inner Ruler (antar-yāmin — 'ruling from within'); the Inward Lord; the Antaryāmī
एषःeṣaḥthis one; he
योनिःyoniḥthe Womb (yoni — 'source, matrix'); the Origin; the generating principle
सर्वस्यsarvasyaof all; of all reality
प्रभव-अप्ययौprabhava-apyayauthe coming forth and the return (prabhava-apyaya); arising and dissolution; the beginning and the flowing back
हिhiindeed; truly
भूतानाम्bhūtānāmof beings; of living creatures
Translation
He is the Lord of all, He is the All-knowing, He is the Inner Ruler, He is the Womb of all: truly the coming forth and the return of beings.
Version
946b0abd5d22 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:21:18 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A sudden hymn in the middle of an inventory — and the spiritual centre of the whole Upaniṣad. Of the deep consciousness (prājña) four titles are given, each more personal than the last: eṣa sarveśvaraḥ — "He is the Lord of all"; eṣa sarvajñaḥ — "the All-knowing"; eṣo 'ntaryāmī — "the Inner Ruler" (antar-yāmin — "ruling from within": the great word of Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3.7: "he who, dwelling in all beings, rules them from within — He is your Ātman, the Inner Ruler, the immortal"); eṣa yoniḥ sarvasya — "the Womb of all": prabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām — "the coming forth and the return of beings": out of Him everything issues, into Him everything flows back.
The meaning of this verse overturns the naive reading of the three states: in the depth of the sleeper what is found is not an "empty unconscious" — the Lord is there. At the bottom of every consciousness, beneath waking and dream, is the Sarveśvara, the Inner Ruler, He who in the Gītā (18.61) "dwells in the heart of all beings, whirling them as though mounted on a machine". The sleeper is serene not because "there is nothing" but because he is nestled against the Lord — without recognising Him (Chāndogya 6.8: "having fallen asleep, he is united with the Existent — but does not know, 'I am united with the Existent'").
Hence the path: not to switch consciousness off (deep sleep does that every night — and settles nothing), but to recognise Him against whom the switched-off consciousness rests. The Fourth, towards which the Upaniṣad is moving, is not a denial of the Prājña but the lifting of his blindness: the same Lord, but face to face.