Upanishads · Chāndogya 5,13.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ ह उवाच सत्ययज्ञम् पौलुषिम् प्राचीनयोग्य कम् त्वम् आत्मानम् उपास्स इति आदित्यम् एव भगवो राजन् इति ह उवाच एषः वै विश्वरूपः आत्मा वैश्वानरः यम् त्वम् आत्मानम् उपास्ते तस्मात् तव बहु विश्वरूपम् कुले दृश्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ha uvāca satyayajñam pauluṣim prācīnayogya kam tvam ātmānam upāssa iti ādityam eva bhagavo rājan iti ha uvāca eṣaḥ vai viśvarūpaḥ ātmā vaiśvānaraḥ yam tvam ātmānam upāste tasmāt tava bahu viśvarūpam kule dṛśyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
सत्ययज्ञम्satyayajñamSatyayajña (satya-yajña — 'true in sacrifice'); Satyayajña Pauluṣi; Satyayajña
पौलुषिम्pauluṣimPauluṣi; the descendant of Puluṣa
प्राचीनयोग्यprācīnayogyaO Prācīnayogya (a family form of address); Prācīnayogya; descendant of Prācīnayoga
कम्kambliss; happiness
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
आत्मानम्ātmānambody; the self
उपास्सupāssayou venerate; you contemplate
इतिitithus; how
आदित्यम्ādityamthe sun (āditya); Āditya; the solar orb
एवevaindeed; surely
भगवोbhagavoO venerable one; sir
राजन्rājanO king; the king
इतिitithus; how
हhaindeed; surely
उवाचuvācahe said; He spoke
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
विश्वरूपःviśvarūpaḥthe All-formed (viśva-rūpa — 'having every form'); the Manifold; the Omniform
आत्माātmāthe Ātman; the inner self
वैश्वानरःvaiśvānaraḥVaiśvānara; the universal fire-man
यम्yamwhom; that one
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
आत्मानम्ātmānambody; the self
उपास्तेupāstehe venerates; beholds
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
तवtavayours; of yours
बहुbahumuch (bahu); abundant; manifold
विश्वरूपम्viśvarūpamof every form (viśva-rūpa); various; of all kinds
कुलेkulein the family; in the lineage
दृश्यतेdṛśyateis seen; is beheld
Translation
Then he asked Satyayajña Pauluṣi: "Prācīnayogya, whom do you venerate as the ātman?" — "The sun, reverend king," he said. — "All-formed is that Vaiśvānara-ātman whom you venerate. Hence there is seen in your family much and of many forms:
Version
7777af50d54d · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:32:08 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second answer is the sun. The king names this veneration viśvarūpa, "All-formed": the sun is a master of forms; its light gives birth to all the colours and shapes of the day. And the fruit follows the image venerated: in Satyayajña's family there is "much and of many forms" — the variegated property the next verse will enumerate.
The name viśva-rūpa is not idly borrowed from the vocabulary of theophany: it is the title of the Lord's universal form revealed in the eleventh chapter of the Gītā. Aśvapati hints subtly: the sun's venerator stands before the shop-window of the All-formed — but a window is not the shopkeeper. The sun is the Vaiśvānara's eye, as will presently be said; to venerate an eye instead of the Seer is to be left one day without sight.