Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 2.11
॥
Devanāgarī
नीहारधूमार्कानलानिलानां खद्योतविद्युत्स्फटिकाशशीनाम् ।
एतानि रूपाणि पुरःसराणि ब्रह्मण्य् अभिव्यक्तिकराणि योगे
Transliteration (IAST)
nīhāradhūmārkānalānilānāṃ khadyotavidyutsphaṭikāśaśīnām /
etāni rūpāṇi puraḥsarāṇi brahmaṇy abhivyaktikarāṇi yoge
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नीहारnīhāramist; haze
धूमdhūmasmoke; fume
अर्कarkasun; the solar disc
अनलanalafire; flame
अनिलानाम्anilānāmand wind; and breeze
खद्योतkhadyotafirefly; glow-worm
विद्युत्vidyutlightning; flash
स्फटिकsphaṭikacrystal; rock-crystal
शशीनाम्śaśīnāmand moon; and the lunar orb
एतानिetānithese; these very ones
रूपाणिrūpāṇiforms; appearances
पुरःसराणिpuraḥsarāṇithat go before; that run ahead
ब्रह्मणिbrahmaṇiin Brahman; on the way to Brahman
अभिव्यक्तिकराणिabhivyaktikarāṇiproducing manifestation; bringing about the appearing
योगेyogein yoga; in the yoking
Translation
Mist, smoke, sun, fire, wind, firefly, lightning, crystal, moon — these are the forms that go before and bring about the manifestation of Brahman in yoga.
Version
cdd270360bbd · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The mantra describes what is usually passed over in silence: the by-products of concentration. Nine visions are listed — from dull mist and smoke to clear crystal and moonlight. Their order is not accidental: it goes from murk toward transparency, and by it one may judge how far the inner sight has cleared.
The key word here is puraḥsarāṇi, "going before", forerunners. This is not Brahman and not the goal; it is what runs ahead, like a herald before a procession. The Upaniṣad names them so that the practitioner may neither take fright nor grow proud: both alike throw one off.
Yet it does not devalue them either: they are said to be abhivyakti-kara, "producing manifestation". That is, they are not the refuse of perception but signs that the work is going on and the veil is thinning. The double appraisal is sober and exact: the phenomena are real, but they are stages passed through.
The next mantra will name weightier fruits — health and freedom from ageing — and the thirteenth will bring them down to the very smell of the body and to lightness. In this sequence the whole honesty of the Upaniṣad is visible: it lists both visions and bodily signs, but confuses neither with the goal, which was named at 2.1 in a single word — tattva, truth.
The practical conclusion is simple: if you have seen light, do not stop; light means the road is the right one, not that you have arrived.