Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 4.17
॥
Devanāgarī
एष देवो विश्वकर्मा महात्मा सदा जनानां हृदये संनिविष्टः ।
हृदा मनीषा मनसाभिकॢप्तो य एतद् विदुर् अमृतास् ते भवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
eṣa devo viśvakarmā mahātmā sadā janānāṃ hṛdaye saṃniviṣṭaḥ /
hṛdā manīṣā manasābhikḷpto ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एषः देवःeṣaḥ devaḥthis God; that Deity
विश्वकर्माviśvakarmāthe All-maker; who fashions everything
महात्माmahātmāthe great Soul; the great Ātman
सदाsadāalways; at all times
जनानाम्janānāmin men; in creatures
हृदयेhṛdayein the heart; within the heart
संनिविष्टःsaṃniviṣṭaḥis settled; is firmly lodged
हृदाhṛdāby the heart; through the heart
मनीषाmanīṣāby discernment; by insight
मनसाmanasāby the mind; by means of the mind
अभिकॢप्तःabhikḷptaḥis apprehended; is taken hold of
ये एतत् विदुःye etat viduḥthey who know this; those who know it
अमृताः ते भवन्तिamṛtāḥ te bhavantibecome immortal; are made imperishable
Translation
This God, the All-maker, the great Soul, is always settled in the heart of men. He is apprehended by the heart, by discernment and by the mind: they who know this become immortal.
Version
3f41be4a17b5 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The mantra repeats the second half of 3.13 but changes the first — and the whole thought is in the change. There it was "the Puruṣa of a thumb's size"; here it is viśvakarmā, "the All-maker", He who forged heaven and earth (3.3).
This is set side by side on purpose: the All-maker — and "in the heart of men". The builder of the universe lives not in workshops on high but in the breast of each, and always, sadā, not on special occasions.
The three means of apprehension are repeated unaltered: by the heart, by discernment, by the mind. And again the heart is named first. The Upaniṣad returns to this a fourth time, as if knowing how readily we shift the order and begin with reasoning.
The word abhikḷpta means "caught, shaped, grasped" — that is, He becomes accessible to perception through these three powers, and not through the sense organs; mantra 4.20 will say so outright.
And the refrain about immortality, sounded three times in the third adhyāya, sounds again. It stands, as always, where nearness is spoken of and not greatness: what makes one immortal is not the sweep of what is seen but the fact that the One seen turned out to be close by.