Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 5.5
॥
Devanāgarī
यच् च स्वभावं पचति विश्वयोनिः पाच्यांश् च सर्वान् परिणामयेद् यः ।
सर्वम् एतद् विश्वम् अधितिष्ठत्य् एको गुणांश् च सर्वान् विनियोजयेद् यः
Transliteration (IAST)
yac ca svabhāvaṃ pacati viśvayoniḥ pācyāṃś ca sarvān pariṇāmayed yaḥ /
sarvam etad viśvam adhitiṣṭhaty eko guṇāṃś ca sarvān viniyojayed yaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यः च स्वभावम्yaḥ ca svabhāvamand who the nature of things; He who the nature of things
पचतिpacaticooks; brings to ripeness
विश्वयोनिःviśvayoniḥthe womb of the universe; the source of everything
पाच्यान् च सर्वान्pācyān ca sarvānand all that is to be cooked; and everything that must ripen
परिणामयेत्pariṇāmayetHe brings to transformation; He carries through its change
यःyaḥwho; He who
सर्वम् एतत् विश्वम्sarvam etat viśvamall this universe; this whole world
अधितिष्ठतिadhitiṣṭhatipresides over; governs
एकःekaḥalone; He the only one
गुणान् च सर्वान्guṇān ca sarvānand all the guṇas; and every quality of nature
विनियोजयेत्viniyojayetHe assigns; He appoints to their work
यःyaḥwho; He who
Translation
And He who, being the womb of the universe, cooks the very nature of things and brings all that must ripen to its transformation; who alone presides over this whole universe and assigns all the guṇas...
Version
9ad0398e7144 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The verb pacati, "cooks", is among the most expressive in the Veda. It is used of cooking food, of the ripening of fruit, and of the way life "boils a man down". Here it is said that it is He who cooks the very nature of things.
This is a direct answer to the doctrine of svabhāva, "one's own nature", offered at 1.2 as a first cause: everything, it was said, happens of itself, by its own nature. The Upaniṣad does not dispute that things have a nature; it says that nature too does not ripen itself.
The word pariṇāmayet, "brings to transformation", means the transmutation of matter — the very one by which the world's origin from prakṛti will later be explained. And here it is named who performs that transmutation.
The third line adds another task: viniyojayet, "assigns the guṇas" — appoints to each its place and its work. The three strands of which the world is twisted (4.5) do not weave themselves: He lays them out.
The mantra is built as a chain of subordinate clauses with no main sentence — and this is deliberate: the epithets pile up, while He of whom they are spoken will be named in the next mantra, where it is said where to seek Him.