Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 4.16
॥
Devanāgarī
घृतात् परं मण्डम् इवातिसूक्ष्मं ज्ञात्वा शिवं सर्वभूतेषु गूढं ।
विश्वस्यैकं परिवेष्टितारं ज्ञात्वा देवं मुच्यते सर्वपाशैः
Transliteration (IAST)
ghṛtāt paraṃ maṇḍam ivātisūkṣmaṃ jñātvā śivaṃ sarvabhūteṣu gūḍhaṃ /
viśvasyaikaṃ pariveṣṭitāraṃ jñātvā devaṃ mucyate sarvapāśaiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
घृतात् परम्ghṛtāt paramabove the clarified butter; on top of the ghee
मण्डम् इवmaṇḍam ivalike the cream; as the skin of cream
अतिसूक्ष्मम्atisūkṣmamexceedingly fine; finer than the fine
ज्ञात्वाjñātvāhaving known; on recognising
शिवम्śivamthe Benign One; the gracious one
सर्वभूतेषु गूढम्sarvabhūteṣu gūḍhamhidden in all beings; concealed in every creature
विश्वस्य एकम्viśvasya ekamthe one of the universe; the single one for all
परिवेष्टितारम्pariveṣṭitāramthe encompasser; who wraps it round
ज्ञात्वा देवम्jñātvā devamhaving known God; on knowing the Deity
मुच्यते सर्वपाशैःmucyate sarvapāśaiḥone is freed from all bonds; he is released from every fetter
Translation
Exceedingly fine, like the cream on clarified butter, the Benign One hidden in all beings, the one who encompasses the universe — knowing God, one is freed from all bonds.
Version
30586755f352 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image is again taken from the kitchen, and again with milk: like cream on top of clarified butter — the thinnest layer, which is the purest thing in it.
This series of images runs through the whole Upaniṣad. At 1.15 the butter was hidden in sesame and in curds; at 1.16 it was spread through the milk; here it is already separated and has risen to the top. The order of the images repeats the course of the book itself: first hidden presence, then the labour of extraction, then manifestation.
The epithets are repeated almost word for word from 3.7 and 4.14: hidden in all, one, encompassing. The Upaniṣad is not afraid of repetition; it drives the same thing in like a pile.
And the conclusion is the same as at 1.8 and 2.15: "knowing God, one is freed from all bonds". Said three times in three different adhyāyas, this conclusion becomes the book's chief refrain.
And again He is called śiva, "the Benign". In the fourth adhyāya, where so much is said of māyā, of those shut in and of the tangle, this name is repeated insistently — as if in answer to the natural fear of the One who holds the net.