Upanishads · Mahā 5.58
॥
Devanāgarī
द्वितीयकारणाभावादनुत्पन्नमिदं जगत् ज्ञातं ज्ञातव्यमधुना दृष्टं द्रष्टव्यमद्भुतम्
Transliteration (IAST)
dvitīyakāraṇābhāvādanutpannamidaṃ jagat jñātaṃ jñātavyamadhunā dṛṣṭaṃ draṣṭavyamadbhutam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्वितीय-कारण-अभावात्dvitīya-kāraṇa-abhāvātfrom the absence of a second cause; by the want of any second cause
अनुत्पन्नम् इदम् जगत्anutpannam idam jagatthis world has not arisen; this world is unoriginated
ज्ञातम् ज्ञातव्यम् अधुनाjñātam jñātavyam adhunāknown now is what was to be known; grasped at last is what was to be grasped
दृष्टम् द्रष्टव्यम् अद्भुतम्dṛṣṭam draṣṭavyam adbhutamseen is the marvellous that was to be seen; beheld is the wondrous that was to be beheld
Translation
“For want of a second cause this world has not arisen; now is known what was to be known, and seen the marvel that was to be seen.”
Version
95f81e905a5d · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The argument in the first half is brief and strong.
For something to arise, two things are needed: that from which, and one who makes. If there is only He, there is no second cause — and hence no “arising” in our sense took place.
Anutpannam idaṃ jagat — “the world has not arisen”. Not “does not exist”, but “did not originate”: it did not begin in the sense in which a pot begins.
The second half is an exclamation, and in it one hears the voice of one who has seen.
Jñātaṃ jñātavyam — “known is what was to be known”. A turn of the kind by which the Upaniṣads convey the end of the search.
Note the word adbhutam — “marvellous, wondrous”. It stands last and refers to what has been seen.
For the third time in this book the goal is named with a word of astonishment (cf. camatkāra in 4.14 and 5.31). Knowledge ends not in a conclusion but in wonder.