Upanishads · Aitareya 1,1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मा वा इदम् एकः एव अग्र आसीत् न अन्यत् किञ्चन मिषत् सः ईक्षत लोकान् नु सृजा इति
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmā vā idam ekaḥ eva agra āsīt na anyat kiñcana miṣat saḥ īkṣata lokān nu sṛjā iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्माātmāthe Ātman; the Self
वाvāindeed; verily
इदम्idamthis; all this
एकःekaḥone (eka); alone; one without a second
एवevaprecisely; only
अग्रagrain the beginning (agre); at the outset; before all else
आसीत्āsītwas; existed
नnanot; no
अन्यत्anyatother; anything else
किञ्चनkiñcanaanything; even the least thing
मिषत्miṣatblinked (from √miṣ — 'to blink'); winked; closed its eyelids
सःsaḥHe; that one
ईक्षतīkṣatabeheld (from √īkṣ — 'to see, to consider'); thought with open eyes; looked-and-resolved
लोकान्lokānthe worlds; the realms
नुnunow; then
सृजाsṛjālet Me create (from √sṛj); let Me make; let Me bring forth
इतिitithus; so saying
Translation
In the beginning, verily, all this was the Ātman alone; nothing else blinked. He beheld: "Let Me now create the worlds!"
Version
69ef384e0997 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The Aitareya begins at the very beginning — before the beginning. ātmā vā idam eka evāgra āsīt — "the Ātman, verily, was this — alone, in the beginning": not chaos, not matter, not a void, but Spirit, and one: na anyat kiñcana miṣat — "nothing else blinked": an astonishing criterion of existence — there was not a single blinking thing, not one living gaze except His; the world before creation is He and His unblinking eye.
sa īkṣata — "He beheld": creation begins with a look-and-a-thought (√īkṣ — "to see, to consider"): not an explosion, not an emanation, but an act of seeing will. The Vedānta-sūtra (1.1.5) builds a whole proof on this verb: īkṣater nāśabdam — "because [scripture says] 'He beheld', [the first cause] is not the wordless [matter]": a blind beginning does not look and does not decide; the Creator of the Aitareya is a Person, and His first deed is a thought: lokān nu sṛjā iti — "let Me now create the worlds!"
Note that nu — "now then, come": in the first word of creation one hears a free readiness, almost a gaiety of decision: the worlds are born not of necessity but of good pleasure (the Taittirīya: "He desired: let Me become many"). The whole Upaniṣad will unfold that first look: how the Beholder built the worlds, moulded man, entered into him — and in man recognised Himself.