Upanishads · Kaivalya 8
॥
Devanāgarī
स ब्रह्मा स शिवः सेन्द्रः सो ऽक्षरः परमः स्वराट् स एव विष्णुः स प्राणः स कालो ऽग्निः स चन्द्रमाः
Transliteration (IAST)
sa brahmā sa śivaḥ sendraḥ so 'kṣaraḥ paramaḥ svarāṭ sa eva viṣṇuḥ sa prāṇaḥ sa kālo 'gniḥ sa candramāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः ब्रह्मा सः शिवःsaḥ brahmā saḥ śivaḥhe is Brahmā, he is Śiva; he is both Brahmā and Śiva
सः इन्द्रःsaḥ indraḥhe is Indra; he is Indra too
सः अक्षरः परमः स्वराट्saḥ akṣaraḥ paramaḥ svarāṭhe is the imperishable, the highest, the self-ruler; he is the undecaying, the supreme, sovereign of himself
सः एव विष्णुः सः प्राणःsaḥ eva viṣṇuḥ saḥ prāṇaḥhe indeed is Viṣṇu, he is the breath; he is Viṣṇu, and he is prāṇa
सः कालः अग्निः सः चन्द्रमाःsaḥ kālaḥ agniḥ saḥ candramāḥhe is time and fire, he is the moon; he is kāla and agni, he is the moon
Translation
He is Brahmā, he is Śiva, he is Indra, he is the imperishable, the highest, the self-ruler; he indeed is Viṣṇu, he is the breath, he is time and fire, he is the moon.
Version
7331d04df370 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:04:38 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A short verse, and it weighs more than many.
The names are listed: Brahmā, Śiva, Indra, the imperishable, the highest, the self-ruler, Viṣṇu, the breath, time, fire, the moon. And the subject of them all is one: saḥ, “he”.
Note that Śiva is named here as the third word, on a level with Brahmā and Indra — that is, as one of the names, not as the name of Him who is spoken of.
This matters for the reading of the whole book. In the seventh verse Śiva with Umā was contemplated; here it is said that He who is contemplated is Śiva, and Viṣṇu, and all the rest.
The same measure we saw in the Atharvaśiras Upaniṣad, where the litany called Rudra Brahmā and Viṣṇu; and the converse in the Rāma-tāpanī, where Rāma was called Maheśvara and Mahādeva.
In all three books the device is one: the names are listed as the names of One, and none of them is declared superfluous.
The word svarāṭ deserves a word of its own: “self-king” — he who shines and rules of himself, receiving power from no one.
The next verse will say what becomes of the one who has learned this.