स होवाच तं ह वै
पूर्वं ह्येकमेवाद्वितीयं ब्रह्मासीत्तस्मादव्यक्तं व्यक्तमेवाक्षरं तस्मादक्षरान्महन्
महतो व अहंकार तस्मादेवाहंकारात् पञ्चतन्मात्राणि
तेभ्यो भूतानि तैरावृतमक्षरं भवति
sa hovāca taṁ ha vai
pūrvaṁ hyekamevādvitīyaṁ brahmāsīttasmādavyaktaṁ vyaktamevākṣaraṁ tasmādakṣarānmahan
mahato va ahaṁkāra tasmādevāhaṁkārāt pañcatanmātrāṇi
tebhyo bhūtāni tairāvṛtamakṣaraṁ bhavati
And He said to him: before, there was one alone, without a second — Brahman; from it the unmanifest, and the manifest is the imperishable; from the imperishable the great principle, from the great the I-sense, from the I-sense the five subtle elements, from them the gross elements; and by them the imperishable becomes enveloped.
5b2c5ff6ca83 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:34:47 PM UTC
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The answer begins from the very beginning: the order of the world's unfolding is given, familiar from Sāṅkhya but opened with the words of the Chāndogya — "one, without a second".
The ladder runs thus: Brahman — the unmanifest — the imperishable — mahat, the great principle — ahaṅkāra, the I-sense — the five subtle elements (sound, touch, form, taste, smell) — the five gross elements. The same series is examined in the Śvetāśvatara and in the Vedānta-sūtra.
Its point here is not the enumeration but the last word: "by them the imperishable becomes enveloped". That is, multiplicity arises as a covering: the One did not divide but concealed itself behind what unfolded from it.
This is the first half of the answer to Brahmā's question. The one did not stop being one because sheaths gathered around it; so too the Lord did not become four because He manifested fourfold.
The second half of the answer will be given in mantra 68, where multiplicity will be directly ascribed to māyā.