Upanishads · Mahā 2.5
॥
Devanāgarī
आकाशं बाह्यशून्यत्वादनाकाशं तु चित्त्वतः न किंचिद्यदनिर्देश्यं वस्तु सत्तेति किंचन
Transliteration (IAST)
ākāśaṃ bāhyaśūnyatvādanākāśaṃ tu cittvataḥ na kiṃcidyadanirdeśyaṃ vastu satteti kiṃcana
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आकाशम् बाह्य-शून्यत्वात्ākāśam bāhya-śūnyatvātspace — by outer emptiness; expanse — because outwardly void
अनाकाशम् तु चित्त्वतःanākāśam tu cittvataḥyet not space — by consciousness; and not expanse — for it is awareness
न किंचित् यत् अनिर्देश्यम्na kiṃcit yat anirdeśyamnothing — for it cannot be pointed out; nothing, since it cannot be indicated
वस्तु सत्ता इति किंचनvastu sattā iti kiṃcanasomething — for there is being; and something, for it exists
Translation
It is space, for outwardly it is empty; and not space, for it is consciousness. It is nothing, for it cannot be pointed out; and it is something, for it is.
Version
6097f50339a1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Four assertions, cancelling each other in pairs. This is no confusion; it is a device.
Vedānta uses it where the subject fits none of our concepts. Of the Ātman one cannot say “space” — nor can one say “not space”. Both answers are wrong in their own way.
It is like space in that nothing is in it and it hinders nothing. Unlike it in that space is blind, while this shines.
“Nothing” — because there is nothing at which one can point a finger and say: here. “Something” — because being as such is He.
It is important to catch the order: what is denied is not His existence but our capacity to define Him. The difference is enormous, and on it depends whether the reader slides into emptiness or not.