Upanishads · Mantrikā 14
॥
Devanāgarī
तं षड्विंशक इत्येते सप्तविंशं तथापरे । पुरुषं निर्गुणं साङ्ख्यमथर्वशिरसो विदुः
Transliteration (IAST)
taṃ ṣaḍviṃśaka ityete saptaviṃśaṃ tathāpare | puruṣaṃ nirguṇaṃ sāṅkhyamatharvaśiraso viduḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तम् षड्विंशकः इति एतेtam ṣaḍviṃśakaḥ iti etehim — “the twenty-sixth”, say these; him some name the twenty-sixth
सप्तविंशम् तथा अपरेsaptaviṃśam tathā apareand others — the twenty-seventh; while others, the twenty-seventh
पुरुषम् निर्गुणम् सांख्यम्puruṣam nirguṇam sāṃkhyamas the Puruṣa, qualityless, counted by Sāṅkhya; as the puruṣa, guṇa-less, numbered by the sāṅkhya
अथर्वशिरसः विदुःatharvaśirasaḥ viduḥthe knowers of the Atharvaśiras know; the adherents of the Atharvaśiras know
Translation
Him some call the twenty-sixth, and others the twenty-seventh; as the qualityless Puruṣa, counted by the Sāṅkhya, the knowers of the Atharvaśiras know him.
Version
a38c93d845e0 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:00:17 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A verse on how the different schools count Him, and the count must be known if the dispute is to be understood.
The Sāṅkhya reckons twenty-four principles: prakṛti, mahat, the self-sense, the mind, the ten senses, the five subtle elements and the five gross. As the twenty-fifth it sets the puruṣa.
Other schools add a twenty-sixth — Īśvara, the Lord over both. And there are those who count a twenty-seventh.
These counts are listed here: “some say the twenty-sixth, others the twenty-seventh”.
Note that the book neither disputes them nor chooses. It names the counts — and in the sixteenth verse will say that the seers see One.
Here lies the argument the Vedānta takes from it. Since He is counted differently, the count is not He; and since every count ends in Him, behind the roll of principles stands One whom no roll can take.
The mention of the Atharvaśiras is striking: the book we read here as number seventeen is named here by name, and named as a school with its own count.