Upanishads · Mahā 4.42
॥
Devanāgarī
एवमात्मा यथा यत्र समुल्लासमुपागतः तिष्ठत्याशु तथा तत्र तद्रूपश्च विराजते
Transliteration (IAST)
evamātmā yathā yatra samullāsamupāgataḥ tiṣṭhatyāśu tathā tatra tadrūpaśca virājate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एवम् आत्मा यथा यत्रevam ātmā yathā yatrathus the Ātman, how and where; in this way the Self, in what manner and wherein
समुल्लासम् उपागतःsamullāsam upāgataḥhas come to manifestation; has arrived at shining forth
तिष्ठति आशु तथा तत्रtiṣṭhati āśu tathā tatraat once there it so abides; without delay it dwells there as such
तत्-रूपः च विराजतेtat-rūpaḥ ca virājateand shines in that form; and is resplendent in that shape
Translation
“However and wherever the Ātman has come to manifestation, so and there it at once abides, and in that form it shines.”
Version
408746fc81c5 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A rule worth remembering: what you gaze into, that you become.
The word samullāsa means “shining forth, a flash, manifestation”. The Ātman manifests — and remains in the form in which it manifested.
So it matters what the mind is occupied with: the form it holds becomes its own.
This is exactly what the Bhagavad-gītā says in its eighth chapter: whatever a man thinks upon at the end, that he attains, for with whatever he was absorbed all his life, with that he is filled.
Hence, by the way, the whole point of the company of the righteous, which will be spoken of further in this chapter. It is not the instructions that matter so much as this: from long being beside them, the form is taken over.
Note also the word āśu — “at once”. Not gradually.