Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 5.3
॥
Devanāgarī
एकैकं जालं बहुधा विकुर्वन्न् अस्मिन् क्षेत्रे संहरत्य् एष देवः ।
भूयः सृष्ट्वा पतयस् तथेशः सर्वाधिपत्यं कुरुते महात्मा
Transliteration (IAST)
ekaikaṃ jālaṃ bahudhā vikurvann asmin kṣetre saṃharaty eṣa devaḥ /
bhūyaḥ sṛṣṭvā patayas tatheśaḥ sarvādhipatyaṃ kurute mahātmā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एकैकम् जालम्ekaikam jālameach net one by one; every single net
बहुधाbahudhāmanifoldly; in many ways
विकुर्वन्vikurvanspreading out; unfolding
अस्मिन् क्षेत्रेasmin kṣetreon this field; in this arena
संहरतिsaṃharatiHe draws in; He gathers back
एषः देवःeṣaḥ devaḥthis God; that Deity
भूयः सृष्ट्वाbhūyaḥ sṛṣṭvāhaving created again; having brought forth once more
पतयःpatayaḥthe lords; the rulers
तथा ईशःtathā īśaḥand so the Lord; and likewise the Master
सर्वाधिपत्यम्sarvādhipatyamuniversal sovereignty; dominion over all
कुरुतेkuruteexercises; carries out
महात्माmahātmāthe great Soul; the great Ātman
Translation
Spreading out one net after another in many ways, this God draws them in again on this field. Having created the lords anew, He, the Lord, the great Soul, exercises universal sovereignty.
Version
5ebd02671b45 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of the net from 3.1 returns, but now it is shown that the net is not one: He spreads them "one after another" and "in many ways". Every universe, every age, every destiny is a net of its own.
The field, kṣetra, is the usual word in the śāstras for the world and for the body; hence the "knower of the field" of later texts. Here something else matters more: the nets are spread and gathered on one and the same field. Creation and dissolution do not happen in different places — they are one breath in one space.
The second half speaks of the lords, patayaḥ: He creates rulers — Brahmā, Indra, the guardians of the quarters — and creates them anew after every folding up. The world is governed through appointed officers, but their authority is derivative, and the officers themselves are made afresh.
The word sarvādhipatya, "universal sovereignty", sums it up: the powers are handed out, the whole remains His.
And He is called mahātmā — "the great Soul". In this Upaniṣad the name usually stands where sovereignty is spoken of nearby: His greatness is not abstract might but the greatness of a Person who has a design, called hidden at 4.1.