Upanishads · Mahā 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
चिदणोः परमस्यान्तः कोटिब्रह्माण्डरेणवः उत्पत्तिस्थितिमभ्येत्य लीयन्ते शक्तिपर्ययात्
Transliteration (IAST)
cidaṇoḥ paramasyāntaḥ koṭibrahmāṇḍareṇavaḥ utpattisthitimabhyetya līyante śaktiparyayāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चिद्-अणोः परमस्य अन्तःcid-aṇoḥ paramasya antaḥwithin the supreme atom of consciousness; inside the highest particle of awareness
कोटि-ब्रह्माण्ड-रेणवःkoṭi-brahmāṇḍa-reṇavaḥthe dust-motes — millions of universes; myriads of world-eggs, like specks of dust
उत्पत्ति-स्थितिम् अभ्येत्यutpatti-sthitim abhyetyacoming to arising and subsistence; reaching birth and continuance
लीयन्ते शक्ति-पर्ययात्līyante śakti-paryayātthey dissolve by the turning of his power; they vanish at the revolution of his might
Translation
Within this supreme atom of consciousness myriads of universes, like dust-motes, come to birth and subsistence — and dissolve by the turning of His power.
Version
298c77129b0e · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse overturns the accustomed measure.
It was just said: the Ātman is finer than space, it is aṇu — a particle. And now it is said that within this particle universes drift like dust in a sunbeam.
There is no contradiction, and in this is the image's point. The Ātman's smallness is not smallness of size. It is “small” in that it occupies no place, has no extension, cannot be divided. And precisely therefore everything extended fits within it.
The turn śakti-paryaya — “the turning of power” — says that the creation and perishing of worlds are not events happening to Him, but the pulsing of His might. He meanwhile does not change.
Gauḍīya Vedānta reads this place with one proviso, worth keeping in mind through this whole chapter: the consciousness spoken of here is no impersonal luminosity. The book itself began with this: the first adhyāya spoke not of “consciousness” but of Nārāyaṇa, who “alone was” and to whom solitude was no joy (1.1). Here the text speaks the language of negations, and that language is preparatory.