Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 1.13
॥
Devanāgarī
वह्नेर् यथा योनिगतस्य मूर्तिर् न दृश्यते नैव च लिङ्गनाशः ।
स भूय एवेन्धनयोनिगृह्यस् तद्वोभयं वै प्रणवेन देहे
Transliteration (IAST)
vahner yathā yonigatasya mūrtir na dṛśyate naiva ca liṅganāśaḥ /
sa bhūya evendhanayonigṛhyas tadvobhayaṃ vai praṇavena dehe
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वह्नेःvahneḥof fire; of the fire
यथाyathāas; just as
योनिगतस्यyonigatasyathat is in its own womb; residing in its source — in the wood
मूर्तिःmūrtiḥthe visible shape; the seen form
न दृश्यतेna dṛśyateis not seen; does not appear to the eye
न एव चna eva caand yet there is no; and there is no
लिङ्गनाशःliṅganāśaḥdestruction of its mark; annihilation of its sign
सःsaḥit; that fire
भूयः एवbhūyaḥ evaagain indeed; once more
इन्धनयोनिगृह्यःindhanayonigṛhyaḥis taken from the womb of the fuel; is drawn from the wood, its source
तद्वत्tadvatjust so; in the same manner
उभयम्ubhayamboth; both — God and the soul
वैvaitruly; verily
प्रणवेनpraṇavenaby the praṇava; by the syllable OṀ
देहेdehein the body; within the body
Translation
As of fire hidden in its own womb the shape is not seen, yet its mark has not perished, and it is drawn again from the wood that is its fuel — just so both are truly drawn, in the body, by the praṇava.
Version
9102cb16ff76 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image is taken from the most ordinary experience of ancient life: fire is produced by rubbing two sticks. Before the rubbing it is not seen, and yet it is not absent — otherwise there would be nowhere for it to come from.
The thought here is fine, and the mantra expresses it by two negations. The shape is not seen — so for the eye there is no fire. But "its mark has not perished", liṅga-nāśaḥ na: the capacity to flare up is intact, it is merely unmanifested. Thus absence and unmanifestness are distinguished — a distinction on which the entire discussion of knowing God rests. God is unseen not because He is not, but because He is not manifest to the present condition of our senses; the same was said at 1.3 — "hidden by His own qualities".
"Both", ubhayam, means God and the soul, named in the preceding mantras: neither is seen, and both may be found. And the place indicated is unexpected: dehe, "in the body". Not in the heavens and not in abstraction — right where we are.
And the instrument named is the praṇava, the syllable OṀ. Not an ornament of ritual but precisely a tool of extraction: like a fire-stick. By what this rubbing is done the next mantra will say, continuing the same image.
Note in passing that the Upaniṣad promises no easiness. Fire is got by friction — long, monotonous, demanding strength. Nothing in this image hints at a sudden illumination without labour.