Upanishads · Mahā 4.49
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मणा तन्यते विश्वं मनसैव स्वयंभुवा मनोमयमतो विश्वं यन्नाम परिदृश्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmaṇā tanyate viśvaṃ manasaiva svayaṃbhuvā manomayamato viśvaṃ yannāma paridṛśyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्मणा तन्यते विश्वम्brahmaṇā tanyate viśvamby Brahman the universe is woven; by Brahman the cosmos is stretched forth
मनसा एव स्वयंभुवाmanasā eva svayaṃbhuvāby the mind indeed, the self-existent; precisely by consciousness, the self-born
मनः-मयम् अतः विश्वम्manaḥ-mayam ataḥ viśvamhence the universe consists of mind; therefore the cosmos is woven of consciousness
यत् नाम परिदृश्यतेyat nāma paridṛśyatewhich, whatever it be called, is beheld; that which, however named, is observed
Translation
“By Brahman — that is, by the self-existent mind — the universe is woven; hence the universe, whatever you call it, consists of mind.”
Version
0e9c1f11518e · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse identifies the mind with Brahman, and this passage must be read attentively, for it easily leads astray.
The word svayaṃbhū, “self-existent”, is a name of Brahmā the creator. The speech, then, is of that great mind by which the world is produced — not of ours.
Hence the conclusion: viśvaṃ manomayam — “the universe consists of mind”.
This, note, is not the same as “the universe is a product of my imagination”. It is woven of mind, but not of mine.
The Vaiṣṇava reading here is simple and removes the temptation. The world is the Creator's thought, and therefore it is both genuine and not self-standing: genuine, for His thought is effective; not self-standing, for it is held by His thinking and not by its own weight.
My position in this world is not the creator's, but that of one who with his own surmises lays his own layer over His thought. Liberation removes the second layer, not the first.