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Upanishads · Sarasvatīrahasya 4.14
॥
Devanāgarī
शुद्धसत्त्वप्रधानायां मायायां बिम्बितो ह्यजः । सत्त्वप्रधाना प्रकृतिर्मायेति प्रतिपाद्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
śuddhasattvapradhānāyāṃ māyāyāṃ bimbito hyajaḥ | sattvapradhānā prakṛtirmāyeti pratipādyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शुद्ध-सत्त्व-प्रधानायांśuddha-sattva-pradhānāyāṃin that where pure clarity predominates
मायायां बिम्बितः हि अजःmāyāyāṃ bimbitaḥ hi ajaḥin māyā, the Unborn is reflected
सत्त्व-प्रधाना प्रकृतिःsattva-pradhānā prakṛtiḥnature in which clarity predominates
माया इति प्रतिपाद्यतेmāyā iti pratipādyateis termed māyā
Translation
In māyā, where pure clarity predominates, the Unborn is reflected; and nature in which clarity predominates is termed māyā.
Version
3fb959af2a5d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A distinction is given that is fundamental in this school, and it is worth voicing, for without it what follows is unintelligible. Nature in which clarity predominates is called māyā; in it consciousness is reflected — and this reflection is the Lord. Nature in which clarity is mixed with the rest is called avidyā, "ignorance"; in it the same consciousness is reflected — and this reflection is the living being.
That is, God and the soul are two reflections of one in two mirrors of different quality; and the whole difference between them lies in the mirror's purity. The construction is elegant; and it deserves credit before we object. The Vaiṣṇava side's objection is the very one cited when reading the Jābāli (4), and let us repeat it here in its sharpest form.
If the Lord is a reflection in a mirror, He depends on the mirror: remove māyā, and there is no Lord. But māyā, by this same teaching, is His own power; and it follows that the cause of His being is His own power, that is, He produces Himself by means of what He possesses. Her own position is the reverse and is stated in the Bhāgavatam (2.9.33): aham evāsam evāgre, "I alone existed in the beginning" — and there māyā is said to be His, not that He is her reflection.
Let us add the word aja, "the Unborn," standing here: if he is not born, then he is not reflected either, for a reflection arises.