Upanishads · Mahā 5.157
॥
Devanāgarī
कालेन स्फुटतामेत्य भवत्यमलविग्रहम् बुद्धिसत्त्वबलोत्साहविज्ञानैश्वर्यसंस्थितः
Transliteration (IAST)
kālena sphuṭatāmetya bhavatyamalavigraham buddhisattvabalotsāhavijñānaiśvaryasaṃsthitaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कालेन स्फुटताम् एत्यkālena sphuṭatām etyain time, having reached distinctness; with time, having attained clarity
भवति अमल-विग्रहम्bhavati amala-vigrahamit comes to possess a stainless body; it becomes the owner of an immaculate frame
बुद्धि-सत्त्व-बल-उत्साहbuddhi-sattva-bala-utsāhain reason, goodness, strength, ardour; in understanding, in sattva, in might, in zeal
विज्ञान-ऐश्वर्य-संस्थितःvijñāna-aiśvarya-saṃsthitaḥestablished in knowledge and lordship; settled in wisdom and in sovereignty
Translation
“In time, having reached distinctness, it becomes a stainless body — established in reason, goodness, strength, ardour, knowledge and lordship.”
Version
d8854272020b · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse describes not just any body but the first one: that which will become Brahmā.
Six excellences are listed: reason, goodness, strength, ardour, knowledge, lordship.
Note that this list is close to the one by which Vaiṣṇava letters define bhaga — the “perfection” of the Supreme: strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty, renunciation. Hence the word bhagavān.
The set here differs, but the sense is the same: a fullness of qualities.
Amala-vigraha — “a stainless body”. The word vigraha means precisely the shape, the body as form.
Sphuṭatā — “distinctness, clarity”. The body first glimmered as a spark (5.152); now it has become distinct.
The next verse will call it by name.