Upanishads · Mahā 4.55
॥
Devanāgarī
अस्त्यनस्तमितो भास्वानजो देवो निरामयः सर्वदा सर्वकृत्सर्वः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः
Transliteration (IAST)
astyanastamito bhāsvānajo devo nirāmayaḥ sarvadā sarvakṛtsarvaḥ paramātmetyudāhṛtaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अस्ति अनस्तमितः भास्वान्asti anastamitaḥ bhāsvānthere is a never-setting luminary; there exists a light that does not go down
अजः देवः निरामयःajaḥ devaḥ nirāmayaḥan unborn god, flawless; a birthless god, free of blemish
सर्वदा सर्व-कृत् सर्वःsarvadā sarva-kṛt sarvaḥalways, all-making, all; at every time, all-creating, everything
परमात्मा इति उदाहृतःparamātmā iti udāhṛtaḥhe is declared the Supreme Ātman; he is named the Highest Self
Translation
“There is a never-setting luminary, an unborn god, flawless, everlasting, all-making, all — He is called the Supreme Ātman.”
Version
fa977a55ef16 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
After the long inquiry into what is not — mind, the seen, design — the verse begins with the word asti: “there is”.
This is the turning-point, and it is prepared by all that went before.
Five attributes are listed, all positive. Anastamita bhāsvān — “a never-setting luminary”: a sun that does not go down. Aja — “unborn”. Nirāmaya — “flawless”, literally “without disease”. Sarva-kṛt — “all-making”. Sarva — “all”.
And the name is given: Paramātman, “the Supreme Ātman”.
The word deva — “god” — appears here for the first time in the chapter, and not by chance. Till now the speech was of states and of essence; here a Person is named.
Note the pair sarva-kṛt sarvaḥ — “all-making and all”. He is both everything that is and the One who makes it. Both sides are affirmed at once, and this is again that very camatkāra, the “wonder”, spoken of in 4.14.
Vaiṣṇava Vedānta sees here the Paramātman — the Supreme in the heart of every being and at the world's foundation, the second of the three aspects in which He is known. The sixth adhyāya will name the third and highest — by name.