Upanishads · Mahā 2.65
॥
Devanāgarī
ततः स्तिमितगंभीरं न तेजो न तमस्ततम् अनाख्यमनभिव्यक्तं सत्किंचिदवशिष्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
tataḥ stimitagaṃbhīraṃ na tejo na tamastatam anākhyamanabhivyaktaṃ satkiṃcidavaśiṣyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ततः स्तिमित-गम्भीरम्tataḥ stimita-gambhīramthen — the motionless-deep; thereafter — the unshakable and deep
न तेजः न तमः ततम्na tejaḥ na tamaḥ tatamneither light nor darkness, outspread; neither radiance nor gloom, extended wide
अनाख्यम् अनभिव्यक्तम्anākhyam anabhivyaktamnameless, unmanifest; unnameable, not displayed without
सत् किंचित् अवशिष्यतेsat kiṃcit avaśiṣyatesomething existent remains; there remains a certain being
Translation
“Then there remains something existent — unshakable, deep, neither light nor darkness, outspread, nameless, unmanifest.”
Version
3a2d36d14b28 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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Amid the negations something positive is suddenly said, and it is worth pausing on: sat kiṃcid avaśiṣyate — “something existent remains”.
Remains. Hence, not emptiness.
The word avaśiṣyate — “is left over as remainder” — is the very one used when all else has been taken away. Name, shape, light, darkness, movement have been taken — and still something is.
This is the chief watershed between Vedānta and the doctrines of the void, and the book walks it with assurance. The sum of the negations is not zero.
Two qualifiers deserve to be taken separately. Stimita — “unshakable”, literally “stilled”, like a surface without a ripple. Gambhīra — “deep”, said of water whose bottom cannot be reached.
Together comes the image of bottomless motionless water. Not an empty sky, but a full depth.