हिरण्यज्योतिर्यस्मिन्नयमात्माधिक्षियन्ति भुवनानि विश्वा । आत्मानं द्विधाकरोदर्धेन स्त्री अर्धेन पुरुषो देवो भूत्वा देवानसृजदृषिर्भूत्वा ऋषीन्यक्षराक्षसगन्धर्वान्ग्राम्यानारण्यांश्च पशूनसृजदितरा गौरितरोऽनड्वानितरो वडवेतरोऽश्व इतरा गर्दभीतरो गर्दभ इतरा विश्वम्भरीतरो विश्वम्भरः
hiraṇyajyotiryasminnayamātmādhikṣiyanti bhuvanāni viśvā | ātmānaṃ dvidhākarodardhena strī ardhena puruṣo devo bhūtvā devānasṛjadṛṣirbhūtvā ṛṣīnyakṣarākṣasagandharvāngrāmyānāraṇyāṃśca paśūnasṛjaditarā gauritaro'naḍvānitaro vaḍavetaro'śva itarā gardabhītaro gardabha itarā viśvambharītaro viśvambharaḥ
The golden light, in which is this self and in which all the worlds abide. He divided himself in two: by one half — woman, by one half — man. Having become a god, he created the gods; having become a seer — the seers, the yakṣas, rākṣasas, gandharvas, the tame and the wild animals. The one — a cow, the other — a bull; the one — a mare, the other — a horse; the one — a she-ass, the other — an ass; the one — an all-bearing female, the other — an all-bearing male.
0b55c7d8118e · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:12:03 AM UTC
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Creation continues, but its manner changes: until now limbs and elements came forth from the Puruṣa; now he divides himself.
The mantra begins with a pointer to the place: “the golden light, in which is this self and all the worlds”. Hiraṇya-jyotis, “the golden radiance”, is the same that other Upaniṣads call the golden veil or the golden Puruṣa in the sun. It is said that in it are both the soul and the worlds: one receptacle for what is within and for what is without.
Then: “he divided himself in two — by one half woman, by one half man”. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka knows this tale too. Its meaning is that the pair arises not by the meeting of two ready-made beings, but by the splitting of one. Hence their pull toward each other: they seek not the other, but the whole.
And further creation goes in pairs, and the list deliberately descends step by step: cow and bull, mare and horse, she-ass and ass. No pair is named above another; the order here is not of dignity but of completeness.
The list is closed by a pair whose name falls out of the row: the “all-bearing female” and the “all-bearing male”. The word means “carrying everything”, and it names both the earth and fire. After the household cattle is named the one who holds all — and named likewise as a pair.
Thus it is said that twoness pervades creation from top to bottom: from the first split to the last creature. And the unity from which it issued will be named in the sixth khaṇḍa — and named with a single name.