Upanishads · Brahma 3.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तेन सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव । तत्सूत्रं धारयेद्योगी योगवित्तत्त्वदर्शिवान्
Transliteration (IAST)
tena sarvamidaṃ protaṃ sūtre maṇigaṇā iva | tatsūtraṃ dhārayedyogī yogavittattvadarśivān
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेन सर्वम् इदम् प्रोतम्tena sarvam idam protamby it all this is strung; by it this whole is threaded
सूत्रे मणिगणाः इवsūtre maṇigaṇāḥ ivalike rows of gems on a thread; like beads upon a cord
तत् सूत्रम् धारयेत् योगीtat sūtram dhārayet yogīlet the yogin wear that thread; let the yogī bear this cord
योगवित् तत्त्वदर्शिवान्yogavit tattvadarśivānknowing yoga, having seen the truth; versed in yoga, beholding reality
Translation
By it all this is strung, like gems upon a thread; let the yogin wear that thread — he who knows yoga and has seen the truth.
Version
4a3206480e38 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:09:07 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The simile on which this whole chapter's play on “thread” rests: gems strung on a cord.
It is from the Gītā, where Kṛṣṇa says: “on Me all this is strung, like pearls on a thread”.
Hence the word-play here is no idle game. The sacred cord is called sūtra; and the same word describes That on which the world is held. The identity of name gives the book the right to carry the one over to the other.
Note that the simile speaks of difference too. The beads are not the thread, and the thread is not the beads; but without the thread they scatter, and the thread does not blur them together.
This is one of the passages on which the Vaiṣṇava Vedānta leans constantly: a unity that does not abolish the many.
And it is added who may wear it: yogavit tattvadarśivān — “one who knows yoga and has seen the truth”.
Two conditions, and both strict. Not everyone who has taken off the cord has thereby put on the inner one.