Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 4.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तद् एवाग्निस् तद् आदित्यस् तद् वायुस् तद् उ चन्द्रमाः ।
तद् एव शुक्रं तद् ब्रह्म तद् आपस् तत् प्रजापतिः
Transliteration (IAST)
tad evāgnis tad ādityas tad vāyus tad u candramāḥ /
tad eva śukraṃ tad brahma tad āpas tat prajāpatiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् एव अग्निःtat eva agniḥHe is fire; That is Agni
तत् आदित्यःtat ādityaḥHe is the sun; That is Āditya
तत् वायुःtat vāyuḥHe is the wind; That is Vāyu
तत् उ चन्द्रमाःtat u candramāḥHe too is the moon; That is the moon as well
तत् एव शुक्रम्tat eva śukramHe is the bright seed; That is the pure radiance
तत् ब्रह्मtat brahmaHe is Brahman; That is Brahman
तत् आपःtat āpaḥHe is the waters; That is the waters
तत् प्रजापतिःtat prajāpatiḥHe is Prajāpati; That is the Lord of creatures
Translation
He is fire, He is the sun, He is the wind, He too is the moon; He is the bright radiance, He is Brahman, He is the waters, He is Prajāpati.
Version
4d1888cc3b39 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The mantra lists deities and elements and identifies them all with Him. Such places are easily read as pantheism — "everything is God"; but the Upaniṣad has already set the limit at 3.14, where the Puruṣa "surpassed the earth by ten fingers", that is, remained over and above the world.
The sense is therefore different. Each of the names listed is not a separate lord of its own domain but His manifestation in that domain. Fire warms by Him, the sun shines by Him, the wind blows by Him. So polytheism is dissolved: the honoured names are many, the Honoured One is one.
Remarkable too is that the word "Brahman" stands in the list beside the elements: it also turns out to be one of the names, and not an impersonal expanse separate from Him. The Upaniṣad does not set the personal against the impersonal; it says that behind both stands the Same.
The word śukra means both "bright" and "seed": that which shines and that from which things are born. Both senses fit this list.
The next two mantras will carry the thought to its limit, calling Him an old man with a staff, a girl, and a blue bird.