Upanishads · Mahā 2.66
॥
Devanāgarī
न शून्यं नापि चाकारो न दृश्यं नापि दर्शनम् न च भूतपदार्थौघसदनन्ततया स्थितम्
Transliteration (IAST)
na śūnyaṃ nāpi cākāro na dṛśyaṃ nāpi darśanam na ca bhūtapadārthaughasadanantatayā sthitam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न शून्यम्na śūnyamnot emptiness; not the void
न अपि च आकारःna api ca ākāraḥnor yet a shape; and not any form
न दृश्यम् न अपि दर्शनम्na dṛśyam na api darśanamneither the seen nor the seeing; neither the visible nor sight itself
न च भूत-पदार्थ-ओघna ca bhūta-padārtha-oghanor the flood of elements and things; and not the mass of elements and objects
सत्-अनन्ततया स्थितम्sat-anantatayā sthitamit abides as the endlessness of being; it stands as the boundlessness of the existent
Translation
“Neither emptiness nor shape; neither the seen nor the seeing; nor the mass of elements and things — it abides as the boundlessness of being.”
Version
a80d284a4a34 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse's first word answers directly the suspicion that arises in every reader of the preceding lines: na śūnyam — “not emptiness”.
The book itself thought it needful to say so. After so many negations one could think nothing else.
The other extreme is rejected too: ākāra, “shape”. Not emptiness — but not a thing with outlines either.
Next the very duality of sight is rejected: neither dṛśya nor darśana — neither the seen nor the seeing. There is no division there into the looker and the object, and so our whole manner of description is unfit entire.
And the conclusion: sad-anantatayā sthitam — “it abides as the boundlessness of being”. The word ananta, “endless”, is here not a size but the absence of a border: it is distinguishing that draws the border, and there is no distinguishing there.