Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 5.4
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वा दिश ऊर्ध्वम् अधश् च तिर्यक् प्रकाशयन् भ्राजते यद् वानड्वान् ।
एवं स देवो भगवान् वरेण्यो योनिस्वभावान् अधितिष्ठत्य् एकः
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvā diśa ūrdhvam adhaś ca tiryak prakāśayan bhrājate yad vānaḍvān /
evaṃ sa devo bhagavān vareṇyo yonisvabhāvān adhitiṣṭhaty ekaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्वाः दिशःsarvāḥ diśaḥall the quarters; every direction
ऊर्ध्वम् अधः च तिर्यक्ūrdhvam adhaḥ ca tiryakupward, downward and across; above, below and sideways
प्रकाशयन्prakāśayanillumining; making manifest
भ्राजतेbhrājateshines; blazes
यत् वा अनड्वान्yat vā anaḍvānlike the draught-ox; as the yoked bull — that is, the sun
एवम्evamso; in just this way
सः देवःsaḥ devaḥthat God; that Deity
भगवान्bhagavānthe Bhagavān; full of excellences
वरेण्यःvareṇyaḥthe desirable; He whom one chooses
योनिस्वभावान्yonisvabhāvānthe wombs and the natures; the sources and their properties
अधितिष्ठतिadhitiṣṭhatipresides over; stands above them
एकःekaḥalone; He the only one
Translation
As the draught-ox of the sky shines, illumining all the quarters — upward, downward and across — so He, God, the Bhagavān, the desirable, alone presides over all wombs and natures.
Version
b2db82d57765 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The comparison is drawn from the sun, and it is named in the Vedic way: anaḍvān, "the draught-ox". In the hymns the sun is often called a bull drawing the cart of light across the sky; in the image there is both power and patient daily labour.
The point of the comparison is twofold. First: the sun shines in all directions at once, without choosing — upward, downward and across. Second: illumining everything, it is coloured by nothing; the same was said at 4.1, where He is called "colourless".
He is given two names here. Bhagavān — "full of excellences", as at 3.11. And vareṇya — "desirable, to be chosen"; this word is from the gāyatrī, at which the Upaniṣad has already hinted at 4.18. He who illumines everything is He whom the heart chooses.
The last line joins both themes of the adhyāya: He presides over "the wombs and the natures", yoni-svabhāva. Both these words were in the list of supposed first causes at 1.2: "womb" and "one's own nature". Here they are not rejected but placed under command: svabhāva exists, the womb exists — but above them is He.