Upanishads · Mahā 2.7
॥
Devanāgarī
तद्भामात्रमिदं विश्वमिति न स्यात्ततः पृथक् जगद्भेदोऽपि तद्भानमिति भेदोऽपि तन्मयः
Transliteration (IAST)
tadbhāmātramidaṃ viśvamiti na syāttataḥ pṛthak jagadbhedo'pi tadbhānamiti bhedo'pi tanmayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्-भा-मात्रम् इदम् विश्वम्tat-bhā-mātram idam viśvamthis universe is merely his shining; the whole world is only his light
इति न स्यात् ततः पृथक्iti na syāt tataḥ pṛthakhence it cannot be separate from him; therefore it is never apart from him
जगत्-भेदः अपि तत्-भानम्jagat-bhedaḥ api tat-bhānameven the world's difference is his radiance; even the world's diversity is his shining
इति भेदः अपि तन्मयःiti bhedaḥ api tanmayaḥso difference too is made of him; thus even difference is woven of him
Translation
All this universe is only His shining, and therefore cannot be separate from Him. Even the difference of the world is His radiance — so difference itself too is made of Him.
Version
0a7c0107b51e · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here a step is taken that is easy to skip past.
The first thought is usual for Vedānta: the world is God's light, not an independent thing. Hence — the world is inseparable from Him.
The second thought is finer. One objects: but the world is various, it is parcelled into things, while God is one; so difference, after all, is something other than He.
The answer: difference too is His shining. He who holds up the world's dividedness as an argument against oneness forgot to ask where the dividedness itself comes from.
The verse's conclusion: bhedo'pi tanmayaḥ — “difference too is made of Him”.
Here Vaiṣṇava Vedānta and the school of unconditional identity part ways, and the difference shows in this very word. It can be read two ways: either difference is false and therefore “reduces” to Him, or difference is real and therefore “belongs” to Him as His own power. Acintya-bhedābheda takes the second: bhedo'pi tanmayaḥ means not “there is no difference” but “difference too is His”.