Upanishads · Mahā 5.151
॥
Devanāgarī
ततस्तादृग्गुणगतं मनो भावयति क्षणात् गन्धतन्मात्रमेतस्माद्भूमिसंवित्ततो भवेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tatastādṛgguṇagataṃ mano bhāvayati kṣaṇāt gandhatanmātrametasmādbhūmisaṃvittato bhavet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ततः तादृक्-गुण-गतम्tataḥ tādṛk-guṇa-gatamthen, having entered such qualities; afterwards, having taken on the said properties
मनः भावयति क्षणात्manaḥ bhāvayati kṣaṇātthe mind contemplates in an instant; consciousness in a moment nurtures
गन्ध-तन्मात्रम् एतस्मात्gandha-tanmātram etasmātthe subtle element of smell; from it; the first-element of odour; out of it
भूमि-संवित् ततः भवेत्bhūmi-saṃvit tataḥ bhavetthence arises the awareness of earth; from that comes about the consciousness of earth
Translation
“Then the mind, having entered such qualities, in an instant contemplates the subtle element of smell; from it arises the awareness of earth.”
Version
13393256cb56 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth and last element: earth, and its property is smell.
Note that earth is named last and densest. In it all five properties are gathered: sound, touch, form, taste, smell.
Hence it is what we call matter in the full sense: it alone can be taken in the hands.
The ladder is finished. From the pure contemplation of space to the awareness of earth — five steps, and each is a condensation of the one before.
Note once more the word kṣaṇāt — “in an instant”, repeated in every verse of this section.
All the unfolding we speak of as cosmogony is, by the book, a series of instantaneous contemplations.
God did not build the world. He thought it, and it is.