Upanishads · Mahā 2.10
॥
Devanāgarī
जाग्रतः प्रत्ययाभावं यस्याहुः प्रत्ययं बुधाः यत्संकोचविकासाभ्यां जगत्प्रलयसृष्टयः
Transliteration (IAST)
jāgrataḥ pratyayābhāvaṃ yasyāhuḥ pratyayaṃ budhāḥ yatsaṃkocavikāsābhyāṃ jagatpralayasṛṣṭayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जाग्रतः प्रत्यय-अभावम्jāgrataḥ pratyaya-abhāvamthe absence of notions in one awake; in the waking one — the absence of representations
यस्य आहुः प्रत्ययम् बुधाःyasya āhuḥ pratyayam budhāḥis what the wise call the cognition of him; the wise name it the apprehending of Him
यत्-सङ्कोच-विकासाभ्याम्yat-saṅkoca-vikāsābhyāmby whose contraction and expansion; by whose closing and opening
जगत्-प्रलय-सृष्टयःjagat-pralaya-sṛṣṭayaḥare the world's dissolution and creation; come the world's perishing and making
Translation
The absence of notions in one who is awake — that is what the wise call the cognition of Him; by His contraction and expansion come the dissolution and the birth of the world.
Version
6ba793b01614 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A strange and exact definition: the cognition of God is the absence of notions — in one who meanwhile is awake.
The proviso “in one awake” (jāgrataḥ) removes the easy answer. There are no notions in deep sleep either, but there is no cognition there. The speech is of a state where the mind is awake, clear, sees everything — and builds nothing on.
The word pratyaya means “notion”, “opinion”, what the mind slips beneath the seen. Whenever we see an object, we see not it but our notion of it. To remove this lining and not fall asleep — that is the task.
The verse's second half sets side by side two things between which we see no link: our notions and the fate of universes. The world is born and perishes by His “contraction and expansion” — saṅkoca and vikāsa. The very same words are used in these books of consciousness too.
That is, between what the mind does with itself and what happens to the world the book sets not a comparison but a correspondence.