Upanishads · Mahā 4.45
॥
Devanāgarī
यथा कटकशब्दार्थः पृथग्भावो न काञ्चनात् न हेमकटकात्तद्वज्जगच्छब्दार्थता परा
Transliteration (IAST)
yathā kaṭakaśabdārthaḥ pṛthagbhāvo na kāñcanāt na hemakaṭakāttadvajjagacchabdārthatā parā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा कटक-शब्द-अर्थःyathā kaṭaka-śabda-arthaḥas the sense of the word “bracelet”; just as the meaning of the word “bangle”
पृथक्-भावः न काञ्चनात्pṛthak-bhāvaḥ na kāñcanāthas no being apart from the gold; is not separate from the bullion
न हेम-कटकात् तद्वत्na hema-kaṭakāt tadvatnor the gold from the bracelet — likewise; nor the gold apart from the bangle — in the same way
जगत्-शब्द-अर्थता पराjagat-śabda-arthatā parāis the supreme sense of the word “world”; is the highest significance of the word “world”
Translation
“As the sense of the word ‘bracelet’ is not separate from the gold, nor the gold from the bracelet — so with the supreme sense of the word ‘world’.”
Version
c73c0deeba38 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Vedānta's famous comparison, and here it is taken in both directions — which matters.
The bracelet is not separate from the gold: take away the gold — and there is no bracelet.
And the gold is not separate from the bracelet: in this bracelet there is no gold apart from the bracelet; it is all in it.
Hence the conclusion about the world: it is not something apart from Him, and He is not something apart from the world — at least insofar as the world is.
The schools read this image differently, and the difference is worth one word.
Advaita stresses the first: the bracelet is only a name and a shape, the substance is one, gold; therefore the world as a separate thing is not.
Acintya-bheda-abheda points out that the image is not exhausted by that. A bracelet is not the same as an ingot: it can be worn, and gold by itself cannot do that. The form is no empty name; it makes the thing what it is. The difference is genuine — and inseparable.
Hence it was said in the second chapter: bhedo'pi tanmayaḥ, “even the difference consists of Him” (2.7).