Upanishads · Mahā 5.10
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रथमं चेतनं यत्स्यादनाख्यं निर्मलं चितः भविष्यच्चित्तजीवादिनामशब्दार्थभाजनम्
Transliteration (IAST)
prathamaṃ cetanaṃ yatsyādanākhyaṃ nirmalaṃ citaḥ bhaviṣyaccittajīvādināmaśabdārthabhājanam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रथमम् चेतनम् यत् स्यात्prathamam cetanam yat syātthat first sentience which may be; the first awareness, such as it is
अनाख्यम् निर्मलम् चितःanākhyam nirmalam citaḥnameless, stainless, from consciousness; unnamed, immaculate, out of the conscious
भविष्यत्-चित्त-जीव-आदिbhaviṣyat-citta-jīva-ādiof the future mind, jīva and the rest; of the coming consciousness, soul and so forth
नाम-शब्द-अर्थ-भाजनम्nāma-śabda-artha-bhājanamthe vessel of names, words and meanings; the receptacle of designations, words and senses
Translation
“That first sentience, nameless and stainless, proceeding from consciousness — the vessel of the future names and meanings: ‘mind’, ‘jīva’ and the rest.”
Version
6e11eec1d5b6 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first step of ignorance, and it is remarkable in that there is as yet nothing bad in it.
It is anākhya — “nameless” — and nirmala — “stainless”.
Why then ignorance? Because it is bhājana — “a vessel, a receptacle” for what is to come: for “mind”, “jīva”, for all names and distinctions.
That is, it is not an error but the possibility of error. A seed.
Hence the name in the next verse: bīja-jāgrat, “seed-waking”.
Note the fine point. The book does not count the very existence of a separate consciousness a fall. The fall will begin when this consciousness takes a name and starts to consider itself “this”.
Compare 5.2: freedom is abiding in one's own nature; bondage is the sense of “I”. Here it is shown where the sense of “I” comes from: first there must be somewhere to put it.