Upanishads · Mahā 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्पुरुषं पुरुषो निवेश्य नास्य प्रधानसंवत्सरा जायन्ते संवत्सरादधिजायन्ते अथ पुनरेव नारायणः सोऽन्यत्कामो मनसाध्यायत
Transliteration (IAST)
tatpuruṣaṃ puruṣo niveśya nāsya pradhānasaṃvatsarā jāyante saṃvatsarādadhijāyante atha punareva nārāyaṇaḥ so'nyatkāmo manasādhyāyata
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् पुरुषम् पुरुषः निवेश्यtat puruṣam puruṣaḥ niveśyahaving set that puruṣa in, the Puruṣa; placing this puruṣa, the Puruṣa
न अस्य प्रधानसंवत्सराः जायन्तेna asya pradhānasaṃvatsarāḥ jāyanteno primal years are born to him; no primary years arise for him
संवत्सरात् अधिजायन्तेsaṃvatsarāt adhijāyantefrom the year they are born; out of the year they come forth
अथ पुनः एव नारायणःatha punaḥ eva nārāyaṇaḥand again Nārāyaṇa; and once more Nārāyaṇa
सः अन्यत् कामः मनसा अध्यायतsaḥ anyat kāmaḥ manasā adhyāyatahe, desiring another thing, meditated with the mind; wishing for something else, he pondered in thought
Translation
Having set that puruṣa within the puruṣa — no primal years are born to him, and from the year they are born. And again Nārāyaṇa, desiring another thing, meditated with the mind.
Version
b2496390cdb8 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A dark paragraph, and I will not pretend to read it with confidence.
Saṁvatsara means “year”; pradhāna — “the chief, the primary”, and in Sāṅkhya it is the name of the first ground. The speech, it seems, is that time does not precede creation but itself comes out of it.
It reads thus: the puruṣa set within has no primary terms of his own; the terms are taken from the year, that is, from the circle already set going.
More than this cannot honestly be said: the place is damaged in transmission, and the interpreters diverge.
But another thing is clear, and it matters more. The turn repeats which will become the refrain of the whole adhyāya: atha punar eva nārāyaṇaḥ so 'nyat kāmo manasādhyāyata — “and again Nārāyaṇa, desiring another thing, meditated with the mind”.
It will sound three times. Each time creation begins the same way: with desire and with thought.
Note the word kāma, “desire”. It stood already in the first paragraph in the negative form — “does not rejoice”; now it stands in the positive.
Between these two words fits everything that will be: to the One it is no joy to be alone, and therefore He desires.