Upanishads · Māṇḍūkya 10
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वप्नस्थानस् तैजस उकारो द्वितीया मात्रोत्कर्षाद् उभयत्वाद् वा ।
उत्कर्षति ह वै ज्ञानसंततिं ।
समानश् च भवति ।
नास्याब्रह्मवित् कुले भवति य एवं वेद
Transliteration (IAST)
svapnasthānas taijasa ukāro dvitīyā mātrotkarṣād ubhayatvād vā |
utkarṣati ha vai jñānasaṃtatiṃ |
samānaś ca bhavati |
nāsyābrahmavit kule bhavati ya evaṃ veda
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्वप्नस्थानःsvapnasthānaḥhaving dream for his sphere; abiding in the dream state
तैजसःtaijasaḥTaijasa; the inwardly shining one
उकारःukāraḥthe sound U; the letter U
द्वितीयाdvitīyāthe second; the next
मात्राmātrāmeasure; sound-part
उत्कर्षात्utkarṣātfrom 'raising up' (utkarṣa, ud-√kṛṣ — 'to draw upwards'); because of superiority; by reason of exaltation
उभयत्वात् वाubhayatvāt vāor from 'being both' (ubhaya-tva — 'belonging to both'); or because of its intermediate place; or by reason of standing between
उत्कर्षतिutkarṣatiraises up (ud-√kṛṣ); exalts; lifts
ह वैha vaiverily; truly
ज्ञानसंततिम्jñānasaṃtatimthe stream of knowledge (jñāna-santati — 'the continuity of knowing'); the succession of understanding; the thread of cognition
समानः चsamānaḥ caand equal (samāna — 'balanced'); and even-minded; and impartial
भवतिbhavatibecomes; is
नnanot; no
अस्यasyahis; in his
अब्रह्मवित्abrahmavitone ignorant of Brahman; one without knowledge of Brahman
कुलेkulein the family; in the lineage
भवतिbhavatiis born; appears
यःyaḥhe who; the one who
एवम्evamthus; in this way
वेदvedaknows; realises
Translation
Taijasa, whose sphere is dream, is the sound U, the second measure: from 'raising up' or from 'being both'. He who knows thus verily raises up the stream of knowledge and becomes equal; in his family none is born who does not know Brahman.
Version
62fab569eed2 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:21:18 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second correspondence: dream = U. The justifications: utkarṣāt — "from raising up" (ud-√kṛṣ — "to draw upwards"): "u" stands higher than "a" in the sound-series of the syllable, as dream stands "higher" than waking: subtler, closer to the self-luminosity of consciousness; ubhayatvāt — "from being both": "u" stands between "a" and "m", as dream stands between waking and the depth, a citizen of both worlds, weaving images out of the day's material on the border of the night.
The fruits are commensurate: utkarṣati ha vai jñāna-santatim — "he raises up the stream of knowledge": santati is continuity, succession: for one who knows dream as a step of the Name, the night itself works for understanding — the inner world becomes not a dump of impressions but a workshop of meaning; samānaś ca bhavati — "he becomes equal": balanced, chained neither to waking nor to reverie — a middle man, like the sound "u" itself; and, remarkably, nāsyābrahma-vit kule bhavati — "in his family none is born who does not know Brahman" (a promise familiar from Muṇḍaka 3.2.9): the inner succession of knowledge overflows into the family line as well — the house of a man whose very dreams are built into Oṁ becomes steeped in knowledge.
Thus the second measure teaches the main thing about the inner world: it is neither the goal nor the enemy but the middle of the road: the dreamer can travel in either direction, and the knowing one chooses upward.