Upanishads · Chāndogya 3,12.6
॥
Devanāgarī
तावान् अस्य महिमा ततः ज्यायान् च पुरुषः पादः अस्य सर्वा भूतानि त्रिपात् अस्य अमृतम् दिवि इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tāvān asya mahimā tataḥ jyāyān ca puruṣaḥ pādaḥ asya sarvā bhūtāni tripāt asya amṛtam divi iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तावान्tāvānso great; such
अस्यasyaof this; it
महिमाmahimāgreatness (mahiman); the greatness; glory
ततःtataḥthan this; from that
ज्यायान्jyāyāngreater (jyāyas); more excellent; older
चcaand; as well as
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥman; Puruṣa
पादःpādaḥa foot (pāda — 'a quarter'); one quarter; the foot as a portion
अस्यasyaof this; it
सर्वाsarvāall; the whole
भूतानिbhūtānibeings; the elements
त्रिपात्tripātthree-footed (tri-pād — 'three quarters'); with three feet; three portions
अस्यasyaof this; it
अमृतम्amṛtamimmortal; nectarean
दिविdiviin the sky; when the sky
इतिitithus; how
Translation
"Such is her greatness; but the Puruṣa is greater still: one foot of him is all beings, three feet of him are the immortal in heaven."
Version
8e59b3afae62 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:02:24 PM UTC
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The verse of the Puruṣa-sūkta is quoted (Ṛg-veda 10.90.3): tāvān asya mahimā tato jyāyāṁś ca pūruṣaḥ — "such is [her, the gāyatrī's] greatness — but the Puruṣa is greater": pādo 'sya sarvā bhūtāni — "one foot of him is all beings": tripād asyāmṛtaṁ divi — "three feet of him are the immortal in heaven"!
A proportion that overturns every cosmology: the whole universe with all its beings is a quarter of the Puruṣa; three quarters are beyond, in the immortal light: the world that is "everything" to us is his lesser share. This verse is the heart of the Vaiṣṇava reading of the Vedas (Gītā 10.42: "with a single fragment of Myself I sustain this universe"): the Lord is not exhausted by the world and immeasurably exceeds it: immanence is a quarter, transcendence three. The gāyatrī-vidyā has reached its limit: beyond the Singing-Guarding one is He whom she sings and by whom she guards.