Upanishads · Subāla 1.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्य ब्रह्मा बिभेति स ब्रह्माणमेव विवेश स मानसान्सप्त पुत्रानसृजत्ते ह विराजः सप्त मानसानसृजन्ते ह प्रजापतयः
Transliteration (IAST)
tasya brahmā bibheti sa brahmāṇameva viveśa sa mānasānsapta putrānasṛjatte ha virājaḥ sapta mānasānasṛjante ha prajāpatayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्य ब्रह्मा बिभेतिtasya brahmā bibhetiBrahmā took fright at her; the creator was afraid of her
सः ब्रह्माणम् एव विवेशsaḥ brahmāṇam eva viveśaand she entered Brahmā himself; she stepped into Brahmā
सः मानसान् सप्त पुत्रान् असृजत्saḥ mānasān sapta putrān asṛjathe created seven mind-born sons; he produced seven mental sons
ते ह विराजःte ha virājaḥthey, the virājas; those are the virājas
सप्त मानसान् असृजन्तsapta mānasān asṛjantacreated seven mind-born; produced seven mental ones
ते ह प्रजापतयःte ha prajāpatayaḥand they are the Prajāpatis; and those are the lords of creatures
Translation
Brahmā took fright at her; and she entered Brahmā himself. He created seven mind-born sons; they, the virājas, created seven mind-born — and these are the Prajāpatis.
Version
1e312458f2bb · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:12:03 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The line is short, and much is said in it, and the first thing is the most unexpected: “Brahmā took fright”.
Before us is the creator of the world, the first-born; and he fears his own creation. There is no belittling of Brahmā in this: the Upaniṣad shows that even at the very summit of the created, death remains fearsome. The fear of her is no human weakness; it lies in the nature of everything that has had a beginning.
And further: “and she entered Brahmā himself”. Death does not retreat and is not satisfied — she enters the very one who feared her. Thus from the outset it is said that there is no hiding from her within creation: where the creator is, there she is too.
Brahmā's answer to this is birth. He creates seven sons “born of mind”, mānasa — not from the body, but by thought; tradition calls them the great ṛṣis. These, named virājas, beget seven more, and these are the Prajāpatis, the lords of progeny.
The order of the answer is telling. Against death is set not a weapon and not a spell, but the continuation of the line — the very thing so many petitions in the second adhyāya of the Kauṣītaki were about. The dying answers death with the being-born.
But this answer is temporary, and the book knows it: the begotten Prajāpatis are mortal too. The real answer will be given later, when the speech turns to Him who was never born.