Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 4.10
॥
Devanāgarī
मायां तु प्रकृतिं विद्यान् मायिनं तु महेश्वरं ।
तस्यावयवभूतैस् तु व्याप्तं सर्वं इदं जगत्
Transliteration (IAST)
māyāṃ tu prakṛtiṃ vidyān māyinaṃ tu maheśvaraṃ /
tasyāvayavabhūtais tu vyāptaṃ sarvaṃ idaṃ jagat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मायाम्māyāmmāyā; the magic power
तुtuindeed; precisely
प्रकृतिम्prakṛtimas prakṛti; as nature
विद्यात्vidyātlet one know; let him understand
मायिनम्māyinamthe Wielder of māyā; the owner of that power
तुtuand; but
महेश्वरम्maheśvaramas Maheśvara; as the great Lord
तस्यtasyaHis; of Him
अवयवभूतैःavayavabhūtaiḥby what has become His parts; by that which has become His portions
तुtuand; so
व्याप्तम्vyāptamis pervaded; is filled through
सर्वम् इदम् जगत्sarvam idam jagatall this world; this whole universe
Translation
Let one know māyā as prakṛti, and the Wielder of māyā as Maheśvara; and by that which has become His parts this whole world is pervaded.
Version
8e095ff2ef2a · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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One of the most quoted mantras of the Upaniṣad, and its importance is hard to overstate: it gives the definition of māyā.
Māyā is prakṛti — nature, the stuff of the world. Not an illusion in the sense of "nothing", not a dream, not a trick of the eye. In later schools the word came to mean "delusion", but here it is defined outright: māyā is nature, the Lord's actual power, of which the world is made.
Her Wielder is called Maheśvara, "the Great Lord" — and on this the whole distinction of the previous mantra rests. The power belongs to Him, not He to it.
The second half says that the world is pervaded by "that which has become His parts". The expression is handled carefully: "parts" here are not pieces cut off from Him — at 3.19 it was said that He is not put together out of limbs — but His powers, His manifestations, working in the world as His portions.
It is precisely this mantra that Vaiṣṇava Vedānta leans on in showing that the cause of the world is neither impersonal nature by itself nor a transformation of God into the world: the world is a transformation of His energy while He Himself remains unchanged. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa examines it when proving that the "māyā" of śruti means not the world's illusoriness but nature subject to the Lord.
The practical conclusion is simple and important: the world is not a semblance to wake up from but a property to be returned to its Owner.