Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 3.18
॥
Devanāgarī
नवद्वारे पुरे देही हंसो लेलायते बहिः ।
वशी सर्वस्य लोकस्य स्थावरस्य चरस्य च
Transliteration (IAST)
navadvāre pure dehī haṃso lelāyate bahiḥ /
vaśī sarvasya lokasya sthāvarasya carasya ca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नवद्वारे पुरेnavadvāre purein the city of nine gates; in the town with nine doors
देहीdehīthe embodied one; the wearer of a body
हंसःhaṃsaḥthe swan; the soul
लेलायतेlelāyateflutters; darts about, plays
बहिःbahiḥoutward; toward the outside
वशीvaśīthe master; the one in control
सर्वस्य लोकस्यsarvasya lokasyaof the whole world; of all the universe
स्थावरस्यsthāvarasyaof the unmoving; of the immobile
चरस्यcarasyaand of the moving; and of the mobile
चcaand; also
Translation
In the city of nine gates the embodied swan flutters, straining outward. But He is the master of the whole world, of the unmoving and the moving.
Version
30e83ac851f0 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The city of nine gates is the body: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth and two lower openings. This image runs through all of śruti and through the Gītā; it says that the body is a dwelling, not the dweller.
The swan is the same soul that circled in the wheel of Brahman at 1.6. And the verb chosen is exact: lelāyate, "flutters, darts", an intensive form conveying incessant trembling. Where does it dart? Bahiḥ, "outward": the soul strains out through all nine gates, for the senses are turned outward, as the Kaṭha says.
The second half places side by side the trembling tenant and the One who is "master of the whole world, of the unmoving and the moving". The contrast is deliberate: in one and the same city there live the one who thrashes and the Unshaken.
This mantra is read in two ways, and both work together. If vaśī refers to the Lord, what is said is: while the soul beats about, He calmly governs both it and the whole universe. If it refers to the liberated soul, then what is said is that the same swan, having ceased to dart, obtains the lordship spoken of at 1.11.
In either case the lesson is one: restlessness is not the soul's nature but its present condition; and the nine gates open both ways.