Upanishads · Mahā 5.178
॥
Devanāgarī
अनन्तस्यात्मतत्त्वस्य सत्तासामान्यरूपिणः चितश्चेत्योन्मुखत्वं यत्तत्संकल्पाङ्कुरं विदुः
Transliteration (IAST)
anantasyātmatattvasya sattāsāmānyarūpiṇaḥ citaścetyonmukhatvaṃ yattatsaṃkalpāṅkuraṃ viduḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अनन्तस्य आत्म-तत्त्वस्यanantasya ātma-tattvasyaof the endless truth of the Ātman; of the boundless reality of the Self
सत्ता-सामान्य-रूपिणःsattā-sāmānya-rūpiṇaḥwhose form is the commonality of being; whose shape is the universality of existence
चितः चेत्य-उन्मुखत्वम् यत्citaḥ cetya-unmukhatvam yatthe turning of consciousness toward the cognizable; the facing of awareness toward the object of awareness
तत् सङ्कल्प-अङ्कुरम् विदुःtat saṅkalpa-aṅkuram viduḥthat they know as the sprout of design; that they account the shoot of intent
Translation
“In the endless truth of the Ātman, whose form is the commonality of being, the turning of consciousness toward the cognizable — that they know as the sprout of design.”
Version
cef6edec7368 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here the very beginning of the whole fall is named, and named with one word: unmukhatva — “turnedness toward, facing”.
Consciousness turned toward the cognizable. Nothing more happened.
And this is the saṅkalpa-aṅkura, “the sprout of design”.
Note the image of the sprout. Not yet a tree, nor trunk, nor root: the first green shoot, which can be pulled out with two fingers.
Recall 5.133: the banyan in the seed. Here the seed has already sprouted.
Sattā-sāmānya — “the commonality of being”: that which is in everything and is no one thing in particular.
The following verses will show how out of the sprout grows all the rest.