Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 4.18
॥
Devanāgarī
यदातमस् तन् न दिवा न रात्रिर् न सन् न चासच् छिव एव केवलः ।
तद् अक्षरं तत् सवितुर् वरेण्यं प्रज्ञा च तस्मात् प्रसृता पुराणी
Transliteration (IAST)
yadātamas tan na divā na rātrir na san na cāsac chiva eva kevalaḥ /
tad akṣaraṃ tat savitur vareṇyaṃ prajñā ca tasmāt prasṛtā purāṇī
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यदा अतमःyadā atamaḥwhen there is no darkness; in the absence of gloom
तत् न दिवाtat na divāthere is no day; that is not day
न रात्रिःna rātriḥnor night; and not night
न सत्na satneither being; not existence
न च असत्na ca asatnor non-being; and not non-existence
शिवः एव केवलःśivaḥ eva kevalaḥthe Benign One alone; only the Benign, and nothing besides
तत् अक्षरम्tat akṣaramthat is the Imperishable; it is the undecaying
तत् सवितुः वरेण्यम्tat savituḥ vareṇyamthat is the desirable splendour of Savitṛ; that very thing honoured in the gāyatrī
प्रज्ञा चprajñā caand wisdom; and insight
तस्मात्tasmātfrom it; from there
प्रसृताprasṛtāstreamed forth; poured out
पुराणीpurāṇīancient; primordial
Translation
When there is no darkness — there is neither day nor night, neither being nor non-being: the Benign One alone. That is the Imperishable, that is the desirable splendour of Savitṛ; from it the ancient wisdom streamed forth.
Version
4ecc7ac8a892 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The mantra describes that state where our distinctions end. There is no darkness — but neither is there day or night; there is neither being nor non-being. What is denied is not things but the pairs by which we think: light and dark, being and non-being. Where both edges of our concepts meet, "the Benign One alone" remains.
Note that the outcome of the denials is neither emptiness nor "nothing". After four "nots" stands a name: śivaḥ eva kevalaḥ. The apophatic way of this Upaniṣad serves not to remove the Person but to purify our notion of Him.
The second half links what has been said to the most honoured prayer of the Veda: tat savituḥ vareṇyam — the words of the gāyatrī, "that desirable splendour of Savitṛ". So the Upaniṣad says: what is spoken of here is the very One invoked in the gāyatrī every day.
And the last line explains the origin of knowledge itself: "from it the ancient wisdom streamed forth", prajñā purāṇī. Wisdom was not invented by sages — it poured out from there; and therefore the Veda is called uncomposed.
Note too the word kevala, "alone, without another": the very word by which at 1.11 the liberated one was described. The likeness is not accidental — the liberated enters a state akin to Him whom he has reached.