एषः मे आत्मा अन्तर्हृदये अणीयान् व्रीहेः वा यवात् वा सर्षपात् वा श्यामाकात् वा श्यामाकतण्डुलात् वा एषः मे आत्मा अन्तर्हृदये ज्यायान् पृथिव्याः ज्यायान् अन्तरिक्षात् ज्यायान् दिवः ज्यायान् एभ्यः लोकेभ्यः
eṣaḥ me ātmā antarhṛdaye aṇīyān vrīheḥ vā yavāt vā sarṣapāt vā śyāmākāt vā śyāmākataṇḍulāt vā eṣaḥ me ātmā antarhṛdaye jyāyān pṛthivyāḥ jyāyān antarikṣāt jyāyān divaḥ jyāyān ebhyaḥ lokebhyaḥ
this ātman of mine within the heart is smaller than a grain of rice, than a barley-corn, than a mustard seed, than a millet grain, than the kernel of a millet grain; this ātman of mine within the heart is greater than the earth, greater than the mid-region, greater than heaven, greater than [all] these worlds.
3636c887cfbb · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:04:47 PM UTC
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Śāṇḍilya's most famous antinomy: eṣa ma ātmāntar-hṛdaye — "this ātman of mine within the heart" — aṇīyān vrīher vā yavād vā — "smaller than a grain of rice, than barley, than a mustard seed, than millet, than a millet kernel" (a descending ladder of smallness, down to the smallest thing a farmer knew!) — and the same is jyāyān pṛthivyāḥ… jyāyān ebhyo lokebhyaḥ — "greater than the earth, the mid-region, heaven, all these worlds"!
Smaller than the small, greater than the great (the Kaṭha 2.20 minted the same: aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān!): the measure of the ātman does not lie on the scale of sizes: He is outside the series of magnitudes — which is why both extremes are equally true. He who contains the worlds and is contained in a heart is the very formula of God in the breast: greatness does not hinder nearness, and nearness does not diminish greatness.
And twice over that warm ma: "this ātman of MINE": Śāṇḍilya speaks not of a principle but of his own: the most intimate of bonds: the Brahman of all the worlds is mine, inside my heart: the vidyā breathes not abstraction but possession — that "mine" which alone can never be taken away.