Upanishads · Mahā 5.107
॥
Devanāgarī
सति दीप इवालोकः सत्यर्क इव वासरः सति पुष्प इवामोदश्चिति सत्यं जगत्तथा
Transliteration (IAST)
sati dīpa ivālokaḥ satyarka iva vāsaraḥ sati puṣpa ivāmodaściti satyaṃ jagattathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सति दीपे इव आलोकःsati dīpe iva ālokaḥas light where there is a lamp; just as radiance where a lamp is lit
सति अर्के इव वासरःsati arke iva vāsaraḥas day where there is a sun; just as daytime where the sun is up
सति पुष्पे इव आमोदःsati puṣpe iva āmodaḥas fragrance where there is a flower; just as scent where a blossom is open
चिति सत्यम् जगत् तथाciti satyam jagat tathāso is the world real where consciousness is; so the world — where awareness exists
Translation
“As light where there is a lamp, as day where there is a sun, as fragrance where there is a flower — so is the world where consciousness is.”
Version
71a67dd928c1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three comparisons, and all three of one kind of connection.
The lamp and the light. The sun and the day. The flower and the scent.
In all three cases the second is no separate thing beside the first. The light is not attached to the lamp; it is the lamp, insofar as it burns.
And in none of the three is the second false. The light is real, the day is real, the scent is real.
In this sense the world is where consciousness is.
Note that this is the book's clearest passage on the world's standing, and it denies nothing.
It also explains why the previous verse forbade telling the unready “all is Brahman”. What is said is true; what will be understood is “nothing exists”.
The world is not nothing. It is the light from the lamp.