Upanishads · Brahma 4.5
॥
Devanāgarī
एको मनीषी निष्क्रियाणां बहूनामेकं सन्तं बहुधा यः करोति । तमात्मस्थं येऽनुपश्यन्ति धीरास्तेषां शान्तिः शाश्वती नेतरेषाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
eko manīṣī niṣkriyāṇāṃ bahūnāmekaṃ santaṃ bahudhā yaḥ karoti | tamātmasthaṃ ye'nupaśyanti dhīrāsteṣāṃ śāntiḥ śāśvatī netareṣām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एकः मनीषी निष्क्रियाणाम्ekaḥ manīṣī niṣkriyāṇāmthe one thinker among the actionless; the single mind among the deedless
बहूनाम् एकम् सन्तम्bahūnām ekam santamof the many — the one being; being one amid the many
बहुधा यः करोतिbahudhā yaḥ karotiwho makes manifold; who makes himself many-formed
तम् आत्मस्थम् ये अनुपश्यन्ति धीराःtam ātmastham ye anupaśyanti dhīrāḥwhom the steadfast see abiding in themselves; him, dwelling in the self, the resolute behold
तेषाम् शान्तिः शाश्वती न इतरेषाम्teṣām śāntiḥ śāśvatī na itareṣāmtheirs is eternal peace, and not others'; to them belongs everlasting peace, to no others
Translation
The one thinker among the actionless, who, being one, makes himself manifold — the steadfast who see him abiding in themselves, theirs is eternal peace, and no others'.
Version
a511721628a8 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:09:07 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Another verse from the Śvetāśvatara, and it speaks of doing.
Manīṣin — “the thinker, the one possessed of mind”; and he is called “one among the niṣkriya” — “the actionless”.
Only He, then, acts; the rest does not act of itself.
Then: ekaṃ santaṃ bahudhā yaḥ karoti — “who, being one, makes himself manifold”.
This is neither transformation nor fragmentation. The verb karoti, “makes”, with the subject “the one being”, means that multiplicity is His deed, not His disintegration.
The Vaiṣṇava Vedānta stands on this: He remains one, and He is manifold; and the one does not cancel the other.
The closing words are familiar — they stand word for word in the thirty-seventh section of the Atharvaśiras: “theirs is peace, and not others'”.
Note here as well: śāntiḥ śāśvatī, “eternal peace”, is promised not to all, but to those who see Him ātmastham — “abiding in themselves”.
The next verse will give the means: the two fire-sticks and the friction.