Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 5.9
॥
Devanāgarī
वालाग्रशतभागस्य शतधा कल्पितस्य च ।
भागो जीवः स विज्ञेयः स चानन्त्याय कल्पते
Transliteration (IAST)
vālāgraśatabhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca /
bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वालाग्रशतभागस्यvālāgraśatabhāgasyaof a hundredth part of the tip of a hair; of one hundredth of a hair's point
शतधाśatadhāa hundredfold; into a hundred
कल्पितस्यkalpitasyadivided; split up
चcaand; moreover
भागःbhāgaḥthe part; the portion
जीवःjīvaḥthe jīva; the living soul
सः विज्ञेयःsaḥ vijñeyaḥthat is to be known; this is what must be understood
सः चsaḥ caand it; yet it
आनन्त्यायānantyāyafor infinity; for boundlessness
कल्पतेkalpateis capable; proves fit
Translation
The hundredth part of the tip of a hair, divided again a hundredfold — such is the portion; know that this is the jīva. And it is capable of infinity.
Version
926a1cbcd5b8 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
One of the most quoted mantras of the Upaniṣad: it gives the measure of the soul. Take the tip of a hair, divide it into a hundred, take one part, divide that again into a hundred — such is the measure of the jīva.
The number is of course not a measurement but a way of saying: immeasurably small. From this passage Vedānta derives the doctrine of the aṇu-jīva, the atomic soul: the soul is neither unlimited like Brahman nor extended like a thing; it is a point of consciousness. The question is examined in detail in the second adhyāya of the Vedānta-sūtra, and the Śvetāśvatara serves there as one of the chief witnesses.
But the whole force of the mantra is in its second line: "and it is capable of infinity", ānantyāya kalpate. Having spoken of the extreme of smallness, the Upaniṣad at once speaks of a boundless capacity.
This is the exact definition of man's position. In size he is nothing; in vocation he is a partaker of the infinite. Neither half without the other gives the truth: without the first comes pride, without the second, despair.
Later this will be explained so: by itself the soul is a candle and only He is the ocean; but by taking refuge in the Rich One, the pauper is made wealthy. The smallness is not abolished — it is filled.