Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 3.14
॥
Devanāgarī
सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषः सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् ।
स भूमिं विश्वतो वृत्वा अत्यतिष्ठद् दशाङ्गुलम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣaḥ sahasrapāt /
sa bhūmiṃ viśvato vṛtvā atyatiṣṭhad daśāṅgulam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सहस्रशीर्षाsahasraśīrṣāthousand-headed; with a thousand heads
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥthe Puruṣa; the Person
सहस्राक्षःsahasrākṣaḥthousand-eyed; with a thousand eyes
सहस्रपात्sahasrapātthousand-footed; with a thousand feet
सःsaḥHe; this Puruṣa
भूमिम्bhūmimthe earth; the whole earth
विश्वतःviśvataḥon every side; from all around
वृत्वाvṛtvāhaving covered; having enveloped
अत्यतिष्ठत्atyatiṣṭhatsurpassed it; stood beyond
दशाङ्गुलम्daśāṅgulamby ten fingers; by ten finger-breadths
Translation
The thousand-headed Puruṣa, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed: having covered the earth on every side, He surpassed it by ten fingers.
Version
cce13e2d43e6 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mantra is taken from the Puruṣa-sūkta, the most ancient hymn about the Person as the beginning of the world; the Śvetāśvatara cites it to join its own teaching to that hymn.
The thousands here mean innumerability: He has as many heads, eyes and feet as there are heads, eyes and feet in the universe — that is, He is present wherever there is life and action. This is the same as was said at 3.3, but in the language of the hymn.
The second half is enigmatic: having covered the earth, He "surpassed it by ten fingers". This is interpreted variously, and all the interpretations agree in one thing: what is spoken of is an excess. He does not merely fill the world — He remains over and above it; the world does not contain Him entire. The ten fingers are the image of that small but decisive residual measure which makes the Creator greater than the creation.
Hence a conclusion important for Vedānta: pantheism is foreign to this text. If the Puruṣa were only the sum of the world, no "beyond" could exist; and since there is a "beyond", He is both in the world and outside it.
And one more thing: the hymn speaks of a person, not of an impersonal expanse. The thousand heads belong to Someone.