Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 6.9
॥
Devanāgarī
न तस्य कश्चित् पतिर् अस्ति लोके न चेशिता नैव च तस्य लिङ्गं ।
स कारणं करणाधिपाधिपो न चास्य कश्चिज् जनिता न चाधिपः
Transliteration (IAST)
na tasya kaścit patir asti loke na ceśitā naiva ca tasya liṅgaṃ /
sa kāraṇaṃ karaṇādhipādhipo na cāsya kaścij janitā na cādhipaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न तस्यna tasyaHe has not; there is not to Him
कश्चित् पतिःkaścit patiḥany master; a single overlord
अस्ति लोकेasti lokein the world; in the universe
न च ईशिताna ca īśitānor any ruler; and no one governs Him
न एव च तस्य लिङ्गम्na eva ca tasya liṅgamnor has He any mark; and He has no distinguishing sign
सः कारणम्saḥ kāraṇamHe is the cause; He is the first cause
करणाधिपाधिपःkaraṇādhipādhipaḥlord of the lords of the organs; chief over the chiefs of the senses
न च अस्यna ca asyaand He has not; and there is not to Him
कश्चित् जनिताkaścit janitāany begetter; anyone who has begotten Him
न च अधिपःna ca adhipaḥnor any superior; and no one above Him
Translation
He has no master anywhere in the world, and no one rules Him; and He has no distinguishing mark. He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs; and He has neither begetter nor superior.
Version
ba30780f0971 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mantra strips from Him everything that makes a being dependent: master, ruler, begetter, superior. Each of these denials answers some line of thought — is there not a law above Him? a fate? a principle that begot Him? The answer is always the same: no.
The middle of the mantra contains a difficult word: na tasya liṅgam — "He has no mark". In logic a liṅga is the sign from which an inference is drawn: smoke is the sign of fire. It is said that He has no such sign — that is, one cannot come to Him by inference as one comes to fire by smoke. He is known not by deduction but by revelation and grace, as was said at 3.20 and will be said at 6.18.
Then stands a name that sounds almost playful: karaṇādhipādhipa — "lord of the lords of the organs". Every sense has its presiding deity (of which 2.3 spoke), and all these chiefs have a common Chief.
The last words — "neither begetter nor superior" — stand beside what was said at 3.4 and 4.12: He begot Hiraṇyagarbha, but no one begot Him. Here the question of origin is finally closed: the chain of causes ends in a Person, not in a law.