Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 3.15
॥
Devanāgarī
पुरुष एवेदं सर्वं यद् भूतं यच् च भव्यम् ।
उतामृतत्वस्येशानो यद् अन्नेनातिरोहति
Transliteration (IAST)
puruṣa evedaṃ sarvaṃ yad bhūtaṃ yac ca bhavyam /
utāmṛtatvasyeśāno yad annenātirohati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुरुषः एवpuruṣaḥ evathe Puruṣa alone; only the Puruṣa
इदम् सर्वम्idam sarvamall this; this whole world
यत् भूतम्yat bhūtamwhat has been; everything past
यत् च भव्यम्yat ca bhavyamand what is to be; and what is to come
उतutaand moreover; as well as
अमृतत्वस्यamṛtatvasyaof immortality; of imperishability
ईशानःīśānaḥthe Lord; the ruler
यत्yatof that which; and of what
अन्नेनannenaby food; by means of food
अतिरोहतिatirohatigrows up; rises, increases
Translation
The Puruṣa is all this: what has been and what is to be; He is the Lord of immortality, and likewise of that which grows by food.
Version
4424f27290d3 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A continuation of the hymn, and it speaks of time: He is both what has been and what is to come. The past is not lost to Him, the future not hidden; both belong to Him as the present.
The second half sets side by side two regions that are usually kept apart. He is "the Lord of immortality" — that is, of the imperishable that lies beyond birth and death. And He is likewise lord of "that which grows by food", annena atirohati — that is, of everything living in its most bodily aspect: plants, animals, men, all that eats and thereby grows.
This conjunction is a mark of the whole Śvetāśvatara. Its God is not divided with the world into two departments, the spiritual belonging to Him and the bodily left to nature. Bread and immortality are in His hand alike.
Hence too the attitude to life that the Upaniṣad preaches: it does not teach contempt for the bodily. The second adhyāya listed the smell of the body and lightness among the first signs of yoga; here the same is said in the language of the hymn — the Lord of immortality rules also over growth by food.
Note the word eva, "precisely": "the Puruṣa is precisely all this". The world is neither on its own nor alongside Him; this is said more strongly than "He owns the world".