Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 6.10
॥
Devanāgarī
यस् तन्तुनाभ इव तन्तुभिः प्रधानजैः स्वभावतः ।
देव एकः स्वम् आवृणोति स नो दधाद् ब्रह्माप्ययम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yas tantunābha iva tantubhiḥ pradhānajaiḥ svabhāvataḥ /
deva ekaḥ svam āvṛṇoti sa no dadhād brahmāpyayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यः तन्तुनाभः इवyaḥ tantunābhaḥ ivawho, like a spider; as a spider does
तन्तुभिःtantubhiḥwith threads; with its own threads
प्रधानजैःpradhānajaiḥborn of pradhāna; issuing from the primal matter
स्वभावतःsvabhāvataḥby His own nature; by His very nature
देवः एकःdevaḥ ekaḥthe one God; God alone
स्वम् आवृणोतिsvam āvṛṇoticovers Himself; wraps Himself over
सः नःsaḥ naḥHe us; may He to us
दधात्dadhātmay He grant; let Him give
ब्रह्माप्ययम्brahmāpyayamentry into Brahman; the attaining of Brahman
Translation
As a spider with its own threads, the one God by His nature covers Himself with threads born of pradhāna. May He grant us entry into Brahman.
Version
011468127812 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
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The image of the spider is known to the Muṇḍaka and the Bṛhadāraṇyaka too: the spider puts out a thread from itself and weaves itself into it. So with the world: it is not assembled out of foreign material and not built by an outside craftsman.
But the Śvetāśvatara adds a qualification the other texts lack, and it is decisive: the threads are called pradhāna-ja — "born of pradhāna", of the primal matter spoken of at 1.10 and 4.10. That is, the web is made not of God's own substance but of His energy, which is prakṛti.
Hence the conclusion around which Vedānta's chief disputes turned. The world proceeds from Him — and therefore He is the cause not only as builder but as the source of its stuff. And at the same time He does not turn into the world and does not diminish: His power is transformed while He remains unchanged. This is the doctrine of the transformation of the energy with the immutability of its Wielder, on which the Vaiṣṇava school stands.
The phrase svam āvṛṇoti — "covers Himself" — adds a note of play to the image: the spider is not caught in its web. The same was said at 1.3, where the Power was "hidden by its own qualities".
And the mantra ends with a petition: "may He grant us entry into Brahman". Even understanding how the web is made does not lead out of it; He leads out.