Upanishads · Subāla 6.6
॥
Devanāgarī
गर्जति गायति वाति वर्षति वरुणोऽर्यमा चन्द्रमाः कालः कलिर्धाता ब्रह्मा प्रजापतिर्मघवा दिवसाश्चार्धदिवसाश्च कलाः कल्पाश्चोर्ध्वं च दिशश्च सर्वं नारायणः
Transliteration (IAST)
garjati gāyati vāti varṣati varuṇo'ryamā candramāḥ kālaḥ kalirdhātā brahmā prajāpatirmaghavā divasāścārdhadivasāśca kalāḥ kalpāścordhvaṃ ca diśaśca sarvaṃ nārāyaṇaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गर्जति गायतिgarjati gāyatiit thunders, it sings; it rumbles and chants
वाति वर्षतिvāti varṣatiit blows, it rains; it gusts and pours
वरुणः अर्यमाvaruṇaḥ aryamāVaruṇa, Aryaman; Varuṇa and Aryaman
चन्द्रमाः कालःcandramāḥ kālaḥthe moon, time; the moon and the season
कलिः धाताkaliḥ dhātāKali, the establisher; discord and the one who sets
ब्रह्मा प्रजापतिःbrahmā prajāpatiḥBrahmā, Prajāpati; the creator and the lord of creatures
मघवाmaghavāthe Bounteous; Maghavan — Indra
दिवसाः च अर्धदिवसाः चdivasāḥ ca ardhadivasāḥ cadays and half-days; days and their halves
कलाः कल्पाः चkalāḥ kalpāḥ caportions and aeons; fractions and kalpas
ऊर्ध्वम् च दिशः चūrdhvam ca diśaḥ cathe above and the quarters; the upward and the directions
सर्वम् नारायणःsarvam nārāyaṇaḥall — Nārāyaṇa; everything is Nārāyaṇa
Translation
It thunders, it sings, it blows, it rains; Varuṇa, Aryaman, the moon, time, Kali, the establisher, Brahmā, Prajāpati, the Bounteous; days and half-days, portions and aeons, the above and the quarters — all is Nārāyaṇa.
Version
683f78e5905c · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:12:03 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third list, and it is the most motley: in it are mixed actions, gods, stretches of time and directions.
It begins with verbs, not names: “it thunders, it sings, it blows, it rains”. This is not a description of anyone's deeds — it is what we observe every day. Thunder, song, wind, rain are named before any deities; and they too are He.
Then come the gods: Varuṇa, Aryaman, the moon, Brahmā, Prajāpati, the Bounteous — that is, Indra. And beside them, in the same row, — kali, “discord”, the name of the present evil age. The Upaniṣad does not bracket out the bad time: it too is in the list.
Then time in its various measures: days, half-days, portions, aeons. The smallest and the greatest are set side by side, so that no interval remain unnamed.
And finally space: “the above and the quarters”.
The list is deliberately made unsystematic. The first two mantras of the khaṇḍa went in order — fourteen pairs, then the classes of gods; here everything is heaped together as it meets the eye. And the conclusion sounds the stronger for it: sarvaṁ nārāyaṇaḥ, “all is Nārāyaṇa”.
After this there is nothing left to object “and what of this?”: the enumerating could go on forever, and the Upaniṣad has shown it by breaking the list off exactly where it became disorderly.